


The Gilded Lily

by nicsnort



Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, Batman: Arkham (Video Games), Batman: Arkham - All Media Types, Batman: The Animated Series
Genre: Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Eventual Romance, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Mentor/Protégé, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Slow To Update
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-25
Updated: 2019-05-30
Packaged: 2019-10-15 20:09:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 25,137
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17535416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nicsnort/pseuds/nicsnort
Summary: Lily has entered the Psychology doctoral program at the University of Gotham, assistant to Dr. Crane. He respects her and she him, but working together has created several variables that their life models did not initially control for. Are these emotions and incidents outliers or indicative of a new trending pattern? Will their actions have a significant effect on each other?Originally posted on fanfiction.net under the same username, thought I would post it here too since that site seems to be dying. Will be infrequently updated due to life.





	1. Dr. Jonathan Crane

_Doctor Crane,_

_I am writing to you because I am interested in attending Gotham State University next year to pursue my graduate degree in Psychology and I had a few questions if you would not mind answering them._

_Firstly, I was wondering if you were taking students next year under your advisement. I know that you are a new professor with this being only your first year, however, after reading a summary of your previous work, I cannot find someone with whom I am more interested in working with. Forgive me, I do not mean to flatter, it is simply that in my research into graduate schools, I cannot find anyone with as much interest or knowledge about the psychology of fear as you._

_If you could not tell, my area of interest is also the psychology of fear. During my undergraduate schooling, my independent research focused on the intersection between the disgust factor present in seeing someone with unfavorable circumstances (like homelessness or illness) and fear (of being in that situation). Though I am currently taking a year off from schooling, I have kept up with the research within the realm of the psychology of fear._

_Which leads me to my second question. I cannot seem to find any of your current research interests on the university webpage or your faculty page. Though I know your publications are recent, I am simply wondering if you are still studying the same concepts, or have moved on to other hypotheses._  
Thank you for taking the time to read this and for responding.  
Sincerely,  
Lily Taggart

_Miss Taggart,_

_Thank you for expressing your interest in working with me next year. I will indeed be taking on students to work with me and in my lab. Space is limited, however, and I will only be taking on a maximum of two students; though you are the first to contact me as such, therefore I do not believe there will be much competition for the positions.  
My current research is delving further in depth with my previous research topics. My work this year is a more concentrated focus on the coping mechanisms after a fear incident. However, with students, I will be able to broaden my research to include other areas. By your description, we do have similar areas of interest and I encourage you to apply to the program. If your academics and references are good enough for the reviewing board to accept you, I would most willingly take you on as a student._

_If you have any other questions about my research or would like any of my research to help you keep up to date, feel free to ask. If you have any questions about the program in general, please direct them to Bill Pigeon as he is the current head of the department._

_Regards,_

_Jonathan Crane, Ph.D._  
University of Gotham  
Associate Professor of Psychology

_Doctor Crane,_

_Thank you for the quick reply. I am glad that you will be taking on students next year, and I hope to be among them. As for you offer, I will take you up on it. I, unfortunately, cannot seem to find your most recent paper "Fear as a Control in Media" anywhere that is not behind an expensive paywall. I would be most appreciative if you send me that so that I may read it. Just looking at the abstract I can tell it is an interesting topic and paper._

_Thank you,_

_Lily Taggart_

_Miss Taggart,_

_Naturally, so far this topic has been one of my favorites to experiment with and learn about. Please find the paper attached below. I have also attached the current write-up of a similar topic that is still undergoing peer review for you to read as well.  
Regards,_

_Jonathan Crane, Ph.D._  
University of Gotham  
Associate Professor of Psychology

_Dr. Crane,_

_Thank you very much. I will be sure to read them as soon as I have time. As you probably know, applying to graduate school eats up a lot of free time. Both look fascinating, thank you for your consideration._

_Thank you again,_

_Lily Taggart_

* * *

The late summer air in Gotham was thick with humidity, even in the morning, and the stench of pollution permeated the streets near the river and harbor floating up towards the higher elevations with every passing minute. The homeless moved about, vacating the stoops and public benches they had slept on before the police forced them out. Already, traffic jams were forming on the highways into the city.

And it was in this urban hell that Lily Taggart awoke. She stretched as she sat up in her newly purchased but used bed. Through the rickety white blinds, the sun peeked in, shining its rays on the dust floating in the air. The sleepy silence of Lily's morning was suddenly broken by the ringing of sirens outside. Another day in Gotham.

This day was very special to Lily however, this was the first day of her graduate school career. Getting out of bed, Lily smiled to herself. After a year off from college so she could pay back some of her student debt, she was ready to get back to the grind. Gotham University was her dream school and she was going to be studying under her dream professor: Doctor Jonathan Crane. Not only was he going to be her advisor but to subsidize her tuition, she was going to work for him as a graduate assistant.

Opening up her closet, Lily's eyes perused the clothing inside. She knew she should have chosen her clothes last night. Now she did not know what to wear. This might be one of the most important days of her life. It was her chance to make a good first impression on Doctor Crane. So far she had only communicated with him by email. During the tour of the campus, she took after she was admitted Doctor Crane had been away on a personal emergency, meaning today was her first time meeting him face to face.

What should she wear though? Nothing casual, that was inappropriate. But a suit was too formal. Could she wear jeans? Maybe her new dark blue ones, but better to wear slacks or a skirt. Not her long skirts though. Maybe she should wear a dress. It was hot out, pants would kill her and seeing how she had just shaved her legs yesterday she did not have to worry in that department.

With the decision to wear a dress or skirt, Lily pulled her selection of those items from her closet. She did not have many, preferring pants for the most part. One instantly caught her eye, however, her family tartan. Though Lily had not been born or raised in Scotland, her grandparents had instilled a great love for their family's heritage in her at a young age. It would be perfect for today. The comfort of it would give her courage and perhaps it could even be used as an icebreaker. Skirt chosen, Lily moved on to finding a top.

This was far easier. The mostly dark blue and black pattern only went with a few of her blouses. Seeing how it was summer though, she chose to wear the white one with short puffed sleeves and ruffles down the front. The blouse, her tartan, some basic black shoes, and a thick black belt would combine to make the perfect outfit for her first day of graduate school.

Noticing the time, she headed into the kitchen, just a few steps away in her small apartment. She would eat a quick bowl of cereal before hopping in the shower and then getting dressed. In her kitchen, Lily poured herself a bowl of cheerios, added some sugar, and then flicked on the TV to catch the morning weather. According to the weatherman, it was going to be muggy all day but tomorrow was supposed to be nicer out with the temperature dropping to the low eighties instead of the mid-nineties like it would be today and had been all of last week. Finishing her meal, Lily rinsed out her bowl and took her pills with a large glass of water.

Lily started to strip as she made her way into the bathroom. Turning on the showerhead, she brushed her teeth as she waited for the water to heat up. After a few minutes, she stepped into the pleasantly hot water and washed. She also made sure to touch up her legs with care, as bloody or nicked skin would mar the first impression of her. When she was done with her shower, she dried off and used the hair dryer to speed along the process. Usually, Lily let her hair air dry, but she had to arrive at the University earlier than she usually would. The reason being that Doctor Crane wished to meet with her before his morning class to have their first official meeting and get to know each other a bit before the scheduled department welcoming get-together tonight.

Once her hair was dry, Lily put on the bare minimum of makeup to hide her old acne scars and the shadows under eyes. Just for good measure, she also put a tiny amount of dark blue eyeshadow on and some natural looking lipstick. Makeup was not something she often wore but until she got to know the rules and expectations of how she was to look while working with Dr. Crane, she would wear some. With her face and hair prepared, Lily changed into her outfit. The final task for the morning was to go through her bag and ensure that she had everything she needed.

' _Books? Check. Notebooks? Check. Writing utensils? Check. Map of the campus? Check. List of classrooms? Check. Wallet? Check. Cellphone? Still charging.'_  Rushing over to her bed Lily grabbed her phone and charger and shoved them into her bag. Now that should be everything. Double checking once more, Lily gave herself a nod. Yes. She had everything she needed. Slinging her bag over her shoulder, Lily grabbed her keys and headed out the door.

The psychology building she needed was a brisk thirty-minute walk from her apartment but given the humidity, Lily decided to take the bus. It was not much faster however due to the wait. The buses around the University were run by the campus and were, therefore, nicer than the others in the city, being equipped with fans and something that might pass for AC. She waited five minutes for the bus before it arrived. It was fairly empty, with just a few students with their coffee staring at their phones already seated. Lily took an empty seat and twenty minutes later she was stepping off in front of the psychology building.

Straightening her hair and clothes, Lily centered herself before entering the building. The building was old and the scent of dust lingered in the air. Lily smiled to herself, the scent was that of academia. Checking her watch, she saw that she had five minutes before her meeting with Doctor Crane. With quick steps, Lily climbed the staircase to the third-floor offices. He said he was all the way down at the end of the hall in the corner office. The third-floor floorboards creaked underneath her feet as she walked down the hall. There was a garish salmon-colored carpet with lime green flowers padding her steps and it made the building feel even older.

At the end of the hall, she could see another person standing outside the corner office's door. He looked around her age and was wearing an ill-fitting suit, ill-fitting due to his frame unless he were to special order suits did not come for someone so tall yet skinny. Despite this he was moderately attractive, his large nose and sharp features were not conventionally handsome but he certainly passed Lily's threshold for nerdy-cute. Lily hoped that he was another of Doctor Crane's grad students, she had thought she was the only one but it was possible she was wrong, and she would not mind getting to know him better. Stopping next to him she peered into the window of the office. It was dark inside. Apparently, Doctor Crane was not here yet. She smiled at the other student.

"Are you waiting as well?"

The man raised an eyebrow. "Yes, and you are?"

"Lily Taggart, I am Doctor Crane's grad student," Lily said, sticking out her hand.

A smirk crossed the man's lips, and he took her hand. "Doctor Jonathan Crane."

Lily felt herself flame red with embarrassment. "I-I," she stammered as he continued to smirk down at her and shake her hand. "I am sorry Doctor Crane. I knew you were younger, but I didn't expect…."

"Someone nearly your own age?" He suggested, breaking off their handshake. "That happens quite often. The perils of obtaining your doctorate at the age most are entering graduate school."

Lily laughed awkwardly, "I bet. Well, it is a pleasure to meet you at last."

"And you. I would let you into my office, but I cannot seem to get in myself. The door has a habit of becoming stuck due to the settling of the building and the humidity. The janitors will have to come up and realign it again."

"Ah, I will just come back later then?" Lily asked wanting to be as far away from her embarrassment as possible at the moment.

"No, no," Doctor Crane said, running a hand frustratedly through his hair and glancing at his door once again. "They will not show up for at least an hour. There is a cafe down the street, we can have our meeting there, a bit more informal anyways."

Lily gave a forced smile. "Sounds good to me."

Doctor Crane gave a nod of his head and then lead the way down the narrow hallway. It was a short walk that they took in silence. The cafe was small for one nearly in the center of campus but well designed and with a wide array of options on the menu. As it was only just after eight am, it was mostly devoid of students except for a single slightly feminine looking man, with bright blue hair and wide bright green plugs in his ears, typing away on his high-end laptop.

"I will buy," Dr. Crane offered as they approached the counter.

"Oh, are you sure? I have money," Lily replied, rather embarrassed at the offer.

"No, it is fine. An apology for the inconvenience."

"That isn't your fault, but thank you."

Dr. Crane gave a short nod before looking at the cashier. "I will have a Cappuccino, large. Miss Taggart?"

"Oh, um," Lily glanced up at the menu quickly, "a small white tea please."

"Alrighty," the cashier said in a tone that was too tired to be cheerful, "that will be six eighty-nine, would you like to round that up to seven and donate the rest to the Gotham children's fund?"

"I will," Dr. Crane said with a nod, handing over a ten to the cashier. The second worker who had been crouching down doing something, stood and began to make their drinks. Dr. Crane's was finished first and he waited for Lily to get her own.

"There is faculty seating upstairs, we can talk there, Miss Taggart."

"Lead the way, Dr. Crane," Lily replied, following him up a set of rickety wooden steps hidden behind a door to the second floor. There were two other professors up here, both reading and sipping on their drinks. They looked up when the pair entered and both gave a slight nod to Dr. Crane but did not say anything. Dr. Crane chose a small table with old plush armchairs for them to sit at in the corner of the room.

Sitting down, Lily took off her book bag and took the first sip of her very hot tea, burning her tongue slightly. She massaged it against her teeth before realizing how silly she must look. With a slightly awkward smile at Dr. Crane, Lily straightened in her seat.

"Now then, Miss Taggart, you are not from Gotham correct? How are you finding yourself so far?"

"Good, good, Gotham certainly is different than the suburbs of Vermont but I like the public transport system. I really do not like driving in city traffic if I don't need to."

"I agree, though might I advise caution in riding them at night. There has been an increase in gang violence on some of the routes recently."

"Thank you, Dr. Crane, I have to admit I am not comfortable enough with the city to go out at night by myself, however, so that is not a worry for me. Not that I go out often anyways," Lily chuckled awkwardly.

Dr. Crane gave a short nod. "You focus on your work and studies, that is good."

Another awkward chuckle escaped her, "Well, more than I am quite introverted. I'd rather read or play my video games than go out with my friends."

"We cannot all be social butterflies. Like you, I prefer to be alone rather than with a group," Dr. Crane replied, setting his coffee down and resting his hands on the table. "What genres do you enjoy to read?"

"Oh, everything really, though for me it is more about the writer or story itself than the genre. I suppose I could say I do not like True Crime, Westerns, or Religious Fiction as a rule but other than that, it does depend on the author. I do love non-fiction, however, as long as the subject matter is something interesting. Do you like to read, Dr. Crane?"

"Most assuredly, the walls of my house are covered in bookshelves. I too have varied interests in reading material. Though I have to say I am surprised that Horror is not a favorite of yours? Psychology of fear after all."  
Lily laughed genuinely, this time feeling much more comfortable. "I am sorry Dr. Crane, it is just that I get that comment a lot. I actually do  _not_  find horror novels scary at all and I don't find them that interesting on the horror front but when combined with a mystery, then I love them. That being said, horror video games can really freak me out and scare me. It is just something with the interaction ability of video games compared to books that seems to do it for me. You like horror novels then?"

"No, in fact, I feel the same way about them. Not frightening in the slightest. I have never tried horror video games, however, I am not really a games person."

Lily looked at him a bit confused, "then, why did you ask me?"

"I wished to know if you had the same opinion. Most people do not understand my neutrality towards horror novels."

"Oh yes, they think that just because I am interested in the psychology of fear, I love horror and am obsessed with fear. They do not understand that they are completely different. Of course, these are the same people that do not realize how much of a role fear plays in their everyday lives."

Dr. Crane truly smiled for the first time since they had met. "Though this is not alcohol, I will drink to that," he said, raising his coffee cup. With a smile of her own, Lily knocked her tea against his cup and they both took a sip.

Feeling much more at ease, Lily was able to relax back in the chair. The worn plush was actually very comfortable. "I am sorry Dr. Crane, but I must inquire or else it is going to drive me mad. How old are you actually?"

"It is alright since we will be working closely, we should be comfortable with each other as well. In answer to your question, I will be twenty-seven in a few weeks."

"Wow," Lily said amazed, "only four years older. You must be wicked smart to have accomplished a Ph.D. so young." Lily internally groaned, she was going to develop a complex about her intelligence working with him.

"One could put it like that, thank you. Though I must say I was impressed by your writing sample. You certainly have a solid grasp on the working knowledge of the psychology of fear and the insight to draw new conclusions. I will be interested to see if your hypotheses work out or not."

Lily flustered a little, though she was not the most humble person, she had never taken compliments well. "Thank you, Dr. Crane, you are really overselling it though. I could have done much better in my research."

"Naturally, but that is why you are pursuing a graduate degree, to hone your skills."

"Well, yes, you are right there." Lily glanced down at her watch. If she remembered correctly, Dr. Crane's morning class started soon, they should be heading back.

Dr. Crane said while looking down at his own watch. "Maintenance should be finished with my door by now, shall we head back?"

"Yes, I was just thinking that," Lily said, standing. "Oh, before I forget. Here, in case you need to get in contact with me. I don't know if the university gave you my contact info or not."

Handing him a slip of paper with all of her information on it, Lily picked up her bag, slinging it over her shoulder. "Thank you, I will gather my information for you as well and give it to you next time we meet. Do you have plans this afternoon, say two o'clock?"

Lily thought, then shook her head. "No, I do not."

"Good, do you mind stopping by my office again? My classes will be finished for the morning by then and we can work out a schedule. I should have a key for you by that time, along with my contact information."

"Of course, thank you." Together, they left and walked back over to the psychology building. More students and faculty members were arriving now. A few professors greeted Dr. Crane and Lily smiled at the few she recognized from her tour. In the entrance of the building, before they went their separate ways, Lily and Dr. Crane stopped.

"It was a pleasure to meet you, Miss Taggart," he said extending his hand.

"Lily, please, and you Dr. Crane," she replied taking it.

"You may call me Jonathan. I will see you later, remember two o'clock."

"Yes, I won't forget." Lily turned and left, a smile on her face. All things considered, that went pretty well.


	2. First Impressions

Lily practically bounced as she walked. She was on cloud nine. Being back in the academic environment, learning again, it felt amazing. After she had left Dr. Crane Lily explored the psychology building getting to know the layout better. Once she was more confident that she knew her way around the building Lily went outside to wander the campus. While she had measured and walked from her apartment to the psychology building already, her brief time in Gotham had not allowed her to get to know the rest of the campus. She knew that later in the school year this time would be filled with conducting research, TA-ing for Dr. Crane, and general studying.

A few hours later Lily found herself sitting in a small cafe eating lunch. It was a small hole in the wall, the exact type of place that did not exist in her suburban hometown, and Lily loved it. There were not very many seats due to its size but most people coming in were looking to take their meals to go anyways.

"Can I sit with you?"

Lily looked up and saw a man standing next to the empty chair with food in his hand. He looked around the same age as her. With a smile, Lily nodded pulling her food and drink close to give him more room.

"Thanks," he sat and smiled at her. "I'm Marcus."

"Lily."

"Lily McTaggart?" He asked gesturing to her skirt.

Lily blinked. "Just Taggart, shortened for the Americas. You know tartans?" She could not believe that her tartan skirt really did end up being an ice-breaker.

"Only my family's and the royal. Marcus McTaggart."

Lily smiled and laughed. "Is that so? What a coincidence. Well a pleasure, Mr. McTaggart."

"You as well Miss Taggart," Marcus replied taking her proffered hand and shaking it.  
"So I haven't seen you here before."

"No, today is my first day. I just started the Psych Ph.D. program."

"Really? Then this must be fate. I am in my second year of the Ph.D. program."

"Small world," Lily replied with a smile, "who do you work with?"

"Maxine."

"Sorry, I'm not familiar with everyone yet."

"Oh no, sorry, my bad. Maxine Simmons. She is one of the developmental profs. What about you?"

"Jonathan Crane."

Marcus choked a bit on the bite he had just taken. "What? You chose to work with him?"

Lily looked at him rather confused. "Of course. Even at his young age, he is one of the foremost minds in the psychology of fear, my area of interest. What is wrong with him?"

Scratching his head Marcus tried to find the words. "Well, he's rather….intense? Strict perhaps would be a better word. He doesn't stand for errors. I mean he might be a great guy but no one really knows, he's always super reclusive. Hardly ever attends events except when they are mandatory and when he does he is often in a corner by himself just watching people."

"I don't see anything wrong with that," Lily said with a shrug. "But even so, he is not here to be my friend but my advisor. I will form my own opinion of him. Thank you for your input though."

In her bag, her phone alarm went off. Glancing at her watch Lily saw that it was half-past one. She needed to head back for her meeting with Dr. Crane. "Well, I need to get going. It was nice to meet you."

"You too Lily. See you at the welcoming tonight?"

"Yes." With that Lily gathered up her belongings and taking her trash to the bin. Without looking back at the man Lily left. Marcus had been rather rude about Dr. Crane. Maybe the bluntness was a city born trait but Lily would never have been so mean about her appraisal of someone. Especially to a person that needed to work with the subject of her opinion.

It took Lily about fifteen minutes to reach the Psych building. She was about to climb the steps to the offices when a girl burst out of a classroom crying. Surprised Lily wandered over to the still open classroom and peeked inside. Dr. Crane was standing at the front of the room talking, apparently unfazed by the girl who had left in tears. Some of the other students in his class were looking at him pale-faced as though scared.

"Now if any of you know that you will not succeed in this class, as you intend not to study and do that work I assign, the deadline for dropping out is in three weeks. I encourage you, however, to do so before you waste any of my time by still being here…."

Lily pulled away from the door her eyes a wide. Marcus had not been kidding he was strict. Silently, Lily snuck away from the door and headed upstairs to Dr. Crane's office. With a sigh, she leaned against the wall near his door and waited for him. Whether he was strict or not he was the one that Lily wanted to work with. It was with him that Lily would learn about fear.

At five to two Dr. Crane arrived. "Lily," he greeted as he unlocked his door.

"Jonathan," Lily replied with a smile. Calling him by his first name seemed odd but he did tell her it was alright.

"Please come in," he said as he opened the door. Lily followed him in. It was a rather large office, a benefit of being in the corner most likely. His desk was perfectly organized as was his bookshelf. He sat in the chair behind his oak wood desk and a bit nervously Lily took a seat in one of the chairs opposite.

There was a bit of an uncomfortable silence as Dr. Crane put away his teaching materials. Finally, though he spoke. "Lily, what I wanted to do at this time is compare schedules, so we can set our meetings for research."

"Of course, Jonathan," Lily said reaching into her bag and pulling out her calendar book. "I was under the impression that I would be your teaching assistant as well, under the larger umbrella of a graduate assistant."

"Yes, the university does allow for that role to be filled as well if a Professor desires. I, however, do not."

"Well, the university is paying me to be your teaching assistant too. I would feel guilty if I did not help in that area at least a little. I do not have to help teach your classes but I could grade papers, perhaps."

"I am very precise while grading papers and while lecturing. I will not allow anyone else to do it."

"Precise enough to make your students cry?" Lily asked sardonically.

"You saw that," he asked in an unconcerned tone.

"Yes, I did and I heard you telling them to drop out of the class if they know they won't succeed."

A smirk played around Dr. Crane's lips. "Good, then you should be able to extrapolate the level of excellence I expect from you."

Lily considered Dr. Crane. He was strict just like Marcus had told her. Marcus' first description of intense was also correct. Now that her nervousness and embarrassment had faded Lily could see how intense Dr. Crane's eyes were, the intensity of passion, a love for what he did. "Yes, I can assume, and I look forward to meeting and hopefully going beyond the expectations you have for me."

"Excellent," Dr. Crane clapped his hands together before taking out his date book.

"I just want to make it clear," Lily said as she opened her own date book. "I didn't mean to make it sound like I disagree with your method of teaching, in fact, I when I in undergrad I believed that the teachers were too easy on students who did not apply themselves. While I do not know what you said to make that girl cry, I do commend you on pushing the students to work for their grades."

Dr. Crane looked up at her a look of mild surprise on his face. Sitting up a bit straighter he fiddled with his tie. "It is good that we are in the same line of thought. Our working together should be much easier than I anticipated then….so when are your classes?"

* * *

Lily fussed with the hem of her tartan. Dr. Crane told her that her outfit would be fine for the welcoming party tonight when she asked him if it was a formal event but she felt underdressed. Even though there were older students there in sweats and even a couple of the professors were wearing less than business casual clothes, the other new students were wearing very professional clothing. They made Lily feel like her attempt at looking her best for first impressions was lacking.

"Oh, hey, Lily." Marcus spotted her across the room and waved to her.

Smiling Lily waved back. Marcus held a finger up to the group he was talking to before coming over to Lily. "Lily, I'd like you to meet some people."

"Oh, sure, thanks, Marcus." Lily followed him back to the group he had been chatting with before.

"Lily, this is Ned, Javier, and Alexi, they all work with me and Maxine. Ned is three years into the program, Javier is four, and Alexi is two, same as me. Guys, this is Lily Taggart, we ran into each other at Roe's. She's going to be working with Crane." The two men and the female comprising the group groaned in a sympathetic yet laughing manner.

"A pleasure to meet you all," Lily said inclining her head, her smile now forced. Did everyone hate Dr. Crane?

"A pleasure indeed," Javier said his voice tinged with an accent of presumably Latin descent. "Shame you won't be around long."

Lily's smile completely disappeared now. "What do you mean?"

"Crane, it is impossible to work with him. A sweet little thing like you won't be able to handle him."

"Javier, don't be mean," Alexi said placing a hand on the Latino man's shoulder. "I am sure she will do fine. I can already tell she has more backbone than you did when you tried to work with him three years ago."

"Thank you, Alexi." Lily's smiled returned at the support. "He and I have already discussed his expectations for me. I believe I shall be able to meet them easily."

"I hope not too easily, Lily." Lily jumped slightly at the sound of Dr. Crane's voice from behind her. The others had not seen him come up and they were startled as well.

"Of course not, it would be no fun if it were too easy."

Dr. Crane smirked. He went to say something else when a short, round, elderly woman approached him. "Ah, Jonathan. You finally come to a department event and interact with people."

"Dr. Simmons," Dr. Crane inclined his head to her. "I thought it pertinent to be here for my new advisee."

He indicated Lily and Dr. Simmons beamed at her. "Excellent to meet you, I am Maxine Simmons. So glad to see you are affecting a positive change in Jonathan already. Hopefully, you can break him out of his shell and get him out of the lab even more in future."

Lily saw Dr. Crane's mouth turn down briefly in a scowl at the other doctor's words. "Surely his dedication to his research is to be admired. I am not one for get-togethers myself, I fear your hopes will be dashed as I will most likely be joining Jonathan as a regular feature in the labs."

Dr. Crane's mouth was relieved of its scowl and he smirked again. Dr. Simmons, on the other hand, sighed, "Ah, well, at least he has taken my advice and is having you call him by his first name and not Dr. Crane like he wants everyone else to do."

"You know that yet still insist on calling me Jonathan," Dr. Crane stated looking down at the far shorter woman.

"You need to loosen up Jonathan. I told you this before you graduated I will continue saying it until you do." Dr. Simmons sighed again. "I must greet my new advisees, have fun, Jonathan."

The older woman left. Dr. Crane inclined his head to Lily before leaving as well. The group around Lily chuckled at Dr. Crane's awkward nature. Lily, on the other hand, frowned at their behavior. She didn't think she wanted to be around them when they were so mean to their superior.

"So Lily," Marcus said putting a hand on her shoulder and forcing her attention back to the group, "where are you from?"

"Vermont, just outside Burlington," she responded kindly. Although Lily had already decided she did not really like Marcus and his friends she wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps their mockery of Dr. Crane was some sort of defense mechanism and they were intimidated by his intelligence. Or perhaps it was just the simple human fact that making fun of an outsider brought a group closer together. At least they were trying to involve her in that group and did not shun her like they could have for being associated with Dr. Crane.

"Vermont, that's cool. Good syrup," Ned, who had been silent so far, said.

"The best," Lily replied with the assuredness of her home-state pride. "Don't let the Canadians tell you otherwise."

The others laughed politely at her lame joke. "Must be pretty up there, though. Nothing like the city," Alexi commented.

"Yes, it is beautiful. I don't miss the trees yet, but I know I will come the fall. Nothing beats the sight of the leaves changing on the mountains."

"I bet, the leaves changing in Robinson Park is always beautiful but to see that all around...I might have to visit," Alexi said with a smile.

"Indeed." Lily looked around trying to find a way out of the conversation. Not seeing a viable way she decided not to be as polite as she could have been. "Well, it has been nice meeting you, but I am going to try and talk to a few more people. I will catch you guys later."

With a false smile and a small wave, Lily left the group. She went to the food table and grabbed a couple baby carrots and a glass of water. Drinking slowly Lily looked around the room. Marcus and his group had already closed ranks and were chatting together and most others were talking as well. The only person not in a conversation was Dr. Crane. He was leaning against a wall separated from the rest of the people. Finishing her water and taking another carrot she made her way over to him.

"Good evening," Lily said with a true smile.

"Done talking to them already?" Dr. Crane replied not bothering to return the greeting.

"I thought I would circulate a bit more."  
Dr. Crane considered her for a moment. "If we are to have a working relationship it would help if you did not lie to me."

Lily frowned slightly. "I was trying to be polite. I did not want anyone to overhear that I thought them rude and immature. It is only my first day I do not want to make a bad first impression by insulting people."

An amused glint in his eye, Dr. Crane pushed himself off the wall to stand properly, "I suppose that is wise."

Feeling more comfortable with Dr. Crane Lily smiled. "Thank you."

They were both silent for a second before Lily spoke again. "With what Dr. Simmons said, would you prefer me to call you Dr. Crane instead of Jonathan?"

"I was advised by my colleagues that having you call me by my given name and you by yours would create a sense a familiarity and thus a comfort and rapport between us. I admit it is not something I am used to."

"Alright, I will call you Dr. Crane then, you can call me Lily or Miss Taggart, whichever you are more comfortable with."

"Thank you, Miss Taggart, your understanding shows that, in time, we will likely have the rapport that my colleagues told me to force between us."

"I certainly hope that is the case, Dr. Crane."

Dr. Crane opened his mouth to reply when someone called out his name cutting him off. "Jonathan! How are you!?"

An older thickset gentleman approached them cupping Dr. Crane on the shoulder jovially. "This must be your new advisee, sorry, dear I don't remember your name."

"Lily Taggart," she supplied.

"Bill," Dr. Crane greeted fixing his glass that had gone awry when the man had slapped him. "Miss Taggart, this is Bill Pigeon, head of our department and my advisor during my Ph.D. studies."

"Indeed, Jonathan was the most brilliant student I ever had. You are lucky to be working with him."

"Thank you, Dr. Pigeon, I feel the same way."

"How polite, she reminds me of you Jonathan. Though you were never as humble." Dr. Pigeon laughed loudly and clapped Dr. Crane on the shoulder arm once more, causing his glasses to go askew again. "And she's pretty too. Have to say you got yourself an A-plus student there!"

Lily smiled awkwardly. She had no idea what to say and she could feel her face going red out of embarrassment. "Um, thank you."

"Oh, Jonathan, she is adorable. Look she's blushing!" Dr. Pigeon laughed again. "You two should try the punch. It will loosen you two up! Especially you Jonathan. Maybe then you will figure out what to do with the pretty ones!"

Nudging Jonathan in the ribs with his elbow and still laughing Dr. Pigeon walked away to talk to another professor. Lily sighed in relief. She did not handle drunk people well, especially ones she could not talk back to. Dr. Crane too looked relieved that his former mentor was gone.

"What he said was inappropriate," Dr. Crane said after Dr. Pigeon was out of hearing. "Please do not think that I approve of that behavior or am anything like that."

The blush had mostly left Lily's cheeks but she nodded all the same. "Thank you, I did not think you would say such things, but it is good to hear you say so."

"Yes, he is a good psychologist but, honestly, he is not that good of a man. Especially when he is inebriated." Dr. Crane's eyes found Dr. Pigeon, who was talking to a pair of female graduate students, before looking down at Lily. "Do not end up alone with him in this state."

Lily blanched at Dr. Crane's advice. "Thank you, I will most certainly not, not that I was planning on it in the first place….I suppose I will also be avoiding the punch as well. I don't like to drink."

"Same with me," Dr. Crane agreed, his tone the most conversational it had been since they were in the cafe this morning. "I do not partake in anything that can change my brain chemistry in public."

"Apart from the caffeine in coffee," Lily corrected with a smile.

Dr. Crane smirked. "Ah, yes, the one drug that the Western world cannot live without. You are right, apart from caffeine."

Lily's eyes wandered around the gathering of professors and students. All were caught up in their own conversations. "You know we could probably leave and not one of these people would notice."

"I was just thinking the same thing. They cannot say we did not make an appearance."

"And we, or at least I, have better things to be doing."

"I as well. Shall we go then?" Dr. Crane asked looking at her expectantly.

"Indeed." Smiling Lily left with Dr. Crane.

Despite the warm day, the night air was pleasantly cool. The humidity was gone and the sky was relatively clear. "I don't think I will get used to so few stars," Lily said looking up at the cloudless but star-free sky.

"One cannot usually see the sky in Gotham," Dr. Crane said looking up himself. "People here do not look up at the sky though. If they stop paying attention to what is around them they are more likely to be mugged."

Lily sighed before checking her phone for the time. "I suppose I should have checked when the next bus is before leaving. I don't think it will come for another half hour."

"How far are you?" Dr. Crane inquired looking towards the bus stop. It was well lit but there was an alley near it and even on campus not everything was safe.

"Not far," Lily replied with a shrug. "I will just walk."

"Nonsense. I will give you a ride to your apartment. It will be safer."

Lily looked at Dr. Crane in surprise. "Are you sure? I don't want to impose."

"Of course. I would not want a foul fate to befall my new advisee so soon after coming to Gotham."

"So after a few months befalling a foul fate walking home is fine?" Lily chuckled and smiled broadly. "Thank you very much, Dr. Crane. I will take you up on your offer."

"This way then," he said leading her towards one of the small parking lots that littered the campus. They walked in silence but it was not an awkward silence. Finally, Dr. Crane stopped at an old brown town car. Despite its age, at least 20 years, it was well taken care of. He unlocked the passenger side door first for Lily. She opened it and moved to get in before noticing a large pile of files and books on the passenger seat.

"Oh, I apologize," Dr. Crane said pushing past her and taking the stuff out. "I usually do not have passengers."

Balancing the papers in his hands he unlocked the rear door and tossed them on the back seat. "There you go."

"Thank you, Dr. Crane," Lily said sliding into the front seat. Dr. Crane opened the driver's side and got in himself. When he turned on the engine the local public classical music channel came through the radio. He went to shut it off but Lily spoke up.

"Oh you don't have to turn it off, I like classical."

"Is that so?" Dr. Crane asked pulling his hand away and shifting into gear.

"Yes, this actually sounds like Brahms, he is one of my favorite composers." Dr. Crane stopped at the exit to the parking lot and looked at Lily expectantly. "Oh, sorry, left. Avalon Estates on Darwin street."

Dr. Crane smirked and turned down the street. "You like Brahms?"

"Yes, for the most part, I enjoy individual songs, not composers. Brahms just happens to write a number of the songs I like. Who do you like?"

"I mostly enjoy the individual songs as well. I admit that I do not have a favorite composer in general as you do with Brahms."

Lily smiled, "I didn't even know it was Brahms that wrote those songs I like until a few months ago when I went to my brother's concert. He's a cellist for the Vermont Symphony Orchestra, just passed auditions this year."

"Good for him," Dr. Crane said in an automatic compliment.

"Thank you….next building," Lily instructed. Dr. Crane pulled off in front of the old apartment building. He put the car in park and Lily unbuckled her seatbelt. "Thank you very much, Dr. Crane. I will see you tomorrow."

"Yes, 8:30 sharp. Good night, Miss Taggart."

Lily got out of the car, "Good night, Dr. Crane, thanks again."

Dr. Crane drove off and Lily let herself into the apartment. She thought her first day, her first impression had gone well. Lily was hopeful for the future.


	3. In the Beginning

Lily arrived at Dr. Crane's office door at 8:27 in the morning. Three minutes before their designated meeting time. The door was closed raising her hand she rapped twice on the hardwood. "Come in," Dr. Crane called from inside.

Opening up the door Lily entered with a smile. "Good morning, Dr. Crane."

"Miss Taggart," Dr. Crane greeted, "Good morning, cutting it close though."

"You did say 8:30 sharp. I am three minutes early."

Dr. Crane looked down at his watch and frowned slightly. "Must be off," he muttered. Getting up from his chair he spoke, "I would offer a seat but I think we should tour the labs before more students arrive and clog the halls. You can leave your bag in here. I will lock the door."

"Thank you, Dr. Crane," Lily said depositing her bag on the guest chair. Dr. Crane walked passed her and, in a gentlemanly manner, held the door open for her. She followed Dr. Crane down the stairs and into the basement of the building.

"The labs have not been renovated in some years, however, they serve the purpose for experiments. Here we have the observation rooms," Dr. Crane lead her into a dark room with an old chair, a ratty desk, and a one-way window. "For some reason, they put the light switch on opposite wall to the door."

Dr. Crane walked across the room and turned on the lights. "In here are also the controls for the testing room. We have lights here, the temperature controls, and an intercom. There are plugins for recording devices as well."

"Renovated or not this is far more than what my undergrad had. We had to use classrooms for our experiments," Lily commented as she looked through the glass at the small room on the other side.

"Then our EEG machine shall floor you."

Lily smiled, "Really? There is an EEG machine? That is amazing! Wait, of course, there is one. That is how you analyzed the brainwaves of those subjects in your most recent paper while showing them images to invoke mortality salience."

"Exactly," Dr. Crane commented as they left the room. He led her further down the hall and spoke again. "You know, I am actually surprised that you read those papers. I did not expect you to."

Looking at him a tad confused Lily laughed. "Of course I read them. I did ask for them after all, it would have been rude not to. Besides, my hubris was great enough that I was confident that I would be working with you so I wanted to be prepared. I won't pretend that I didn't brush up last night though."

Dr. Crane smiled slightly. "Your hubris was well earned. Though I am not supposed to tell you the admitting board was impressed with your application. Do not let that go to your head, however, you still have a great deal to learn."

"Thank you, Dr. Crane, I will not tell anyone you told me. Do not worry though, I know I still have a lot to learn. Especially from you, Dr. Crane the Master of the Psychology of Fear!" Lily giggled not noticing how Dr. Crane's cheeks tinged red for the slightest moment.

"Sorry," Lily said regaining her composure, "I enjoy making lame jokes like that. Just tell me if you find it inappropriate."

Dr. Crane inclined his head before continuing to walk down the hall to the room with the EEG machine. "That is alright. I enjoy jokes as long as they are not derogatory towards my person."

"I will keep that in mind. I assure you I did not mean it as an insult. That was actually what I called you to my friends when they asked why I was so determined to work with you. They eventually shortened it to just the Master of Fear though, rolls off the tongue better."

Dr. Crane's lips tightened, "Ridiculous, no one can master fear entirely. It is far too embedded within our animal psychology. Though seeing how our relationship of mentor and advisee is similar to the old apprenticeship models of the medieval era, perhaps you calling me 'master' is appropriate."

He smirked a little letting Lily know he was joking. Lily smiled as well, "Oh Master, please bestow your vast knowledge of fear upon your humble apprentice so that one day I may reach a sliver of your greatness."

Smiling broadly for the first time Dr. Crane opened the door to the EEG machine. "I do believe, Miss Taggart that we are going to get along quite well."

* * *

Lily lay on her favorite blanket in the middle of her apartment with her textbooks and notes surrounding her. She had a hundred pages to read between three books for her Statistical Theory and Application class and as math was not Lily's strong suit she was determined to take thorough notes. It had been about two weeks since she had started school. Two weeks since she had started working with Dr. Crane. Two weeks since she had called her parents….

"Ah, shit!" Lily swore as she remembered that last fact. Throwing her book aside she dove for her phone. It was just after five she parents would be home by now. Dialing their number she held the phone to her ear.

"Finally!" Was the first word she heard when her mother picked up the phone. "I have been worried sick about you young lady!"

"I'm sorry, Mom, I know, I know. I just got wrapped up with school and working with Dr. Crane. Before I knew it two weeks had passed."

"It's going well then," her mother asked, her tone completely changed from the fury before.

"Yeah, it's going really well. My classes are a lot of work with all the reading but I've met some nice people."

"I'm glad you are making friends. Any of them catch your eye?"

"Mom," Lily groaned palming her face. "I'm not here for that. I just want to study and get my Ph.D. Then I can worry about all that love and marriage stuff."

"I know, I just worry about you. I want you to be happy."

If Lily hadn't been having this conversation with her mother for the past five years she would have retorted with 'and I need a man to be happy, do I?' But as it was Lily had learned long ago that such a response would only prolong the conversation. "I know, Mom. What about you though? How did that one house turn out? Did that young couple buy?"

"Oh yes, yes they did and they are very much in love with it. A sweet couple but I don't think they are ever going to last. The energies between them were just too different. Besides he was Capricorn and she was Libra. There is a lot of trouble right there."

Lily rolled her eyes. This was another reason she never liked talking about boys and dating with her mother. She always had to bring her New Age nonsense into it. Heavens forbid that Lily, as an Aries, ever bring home a Scorpio. "Well, you never know."

"That is right dear. How is that professor you were talking about? The one you are working with was it?"

"Dr. Crane is amazing! He's so smart, a genius. Young too, like only a few years older than me. And he actually is pushing his students to do well. We've talked for hours over the past two weeks about psychology and fear, oh and books! He loves reading, probably even more than me!"

"That's wonderful, Sweetheart. Your age, smart, is he single? What is his sign? Might not need to finish your Ph.D. at this rate."

"I don't know, either way, it doesn't matter. All that matters is that Dr. Crane and I are getting along great  _as colleagues_. I told him about what I want to research with my independent study and he already thinks that the hypotheses are solid too. He says he will be pleased to help me form experiments and do the IRB."

"Great, hun, great. Well, we'll be eating dinner soon so I have to go. Call me soon okay. Don't wait another two weeks. Oh and find out your Professor's sign; I want to make sure you'll continue to get along."

"Yes, Mom. I love you."

"I love you too."

Lily hung up the phone and sighed. As much as she loved her mother, Lily knew she would never be understood by her. Her mother who only got her degree in business to pursue a husband at college. There was no chance that she would understand Lily's desire to have her own career and be financially independent. To Lily love came second to her education. A husband and children were so far out of range that to her they would never happen.

Turning back to her homework Lily was about to start reading when her phone rang. "Yes?" She answered not bothering to look at the caller ID.

"Wow, what a way to greet me," a familiar voice replied on the other end.

"Olivia! Hey girl!" Lily said excitedly at the voice of one of her best friends.

"Hey! So much for calling me once you got settled in Gotham."

"Sorry, I just got so distracted with school and working with Dr. Crane. I even forgot to call my parents until...well just now. I literally just got off the phone with them. Your call was creepy good timing."

"Fine, I guess I can forgive you," Olivia relented with an exaggerated sigh. "But! You need to tell me if you've spotted any cuties yet."

Lily groaned, "God, first my mother now you."

"Oh, girl, I don't want you to get hitched. I just want you to have someone to relieve the stress with. Surely there is another grad student that has caught your eye, or perhaps...a professor?"

Even over the phone, Lily could swear that her friend was hearing her blush. Her silence meant more though. "So there is someone. Spill girl."

"Ummm…" Lily's blush deepened as she flustered. "Okay, so, I...I-think-Doctor-Crane-is-really-cute." She said the last bit very fast and gasped covering her mouth once she was done.

"Wait, wait, you have the hots for your Advisor, Mister Master of Fear?"

"No! No. Not the hots, I just think that...well...you know how I like nerdy type guys and he is our age pretty much and...I know nothing can come of it! Stop laughing. You're the one that had a crush on Professor McMillan even though he was like 50 and married."

"Yeah! But I didn't have to work with him closely for five years! You have to with Crane!" On the other end of the line, Olivia was still laughing.

Lily groaned exaggeratedly again, "Stop. I can't help it. We've both worked with people we think are cute before and been fine. Just because someone is cute doesn't mean I like him."

"You're right, you're right. I'm sorry. So how is the Master of Fear?"

"He's awesome! God, he's so smart, I swear, bordering on genius. But talking with him I don't feel stupid, I actually feel smarter, like I don't even use contractions around him smarter. And he actually pushes his students in class too, you know how I hated the profs at college who didn't! It's such a relief that he does. And he loves books and reading. We've spent hours already talking about books, not to mention theory and hypotheses. He's great, just great."

"Uh-huh, well don't forget to invite me to the wedding." Olivia began laughing again.

"Shut up!"

"Sorry, sorry. I'm sorry. But you were so intellectually infatuated with him before you met, it is just funny. I'm sorry."

"Good," Lily replied still rather miffed. "Tell me, how is Central City?"

"Amazing. It's so pretty for a city. I love it."

"Great." Lily and Olivia chatted for a good half an hour about what had happened in the few weeks since they seen each other. They had just turned their conversation to the upcoming season of a crime show they both enjoyed when Lily's phone beeped alerting her of another call.

"Hang on," she said before looking at the caller ID. "Oh! It's Dr. Crane, I better answer."

Without giving Olivia a chance to respond Lily switched over. "Yes, Dr. Crane?"

"Miss Taggart. I apologize for bothering you on the weekend, however, I have an issue I could use your assistance with."

"Of course, Dr. Crane, I was just doing some reading for school. Nothing that I cannot do later. What can I help you with?"

"Dr. Pigeon just informed me that they are going to standardized the General Psychology courses' testing methods, including pre-test quizzes. Therefore, I must create multiple choice quizzes for the students to take. I admit, I have never created multiple choice quizzes or tests before and it has been so long since I have taken them myself I am unsure on how to do so. Might you be able to take some time to assist me?"

Lily smiled at Dr. Crane's explanation. "Of course, Dr. Crane. I am also your teaching assistant after all."

"Excellent, I can meet you at my office in half an hour. Is that acceptable?"

"Sounds perfect, I will put away my books and meet you there."

"Thank you." Dr. Crane hung up abruptly.  
Switching back to her friend Lily told her that she had to go help Crane, ignored the crude joke that was made, and promised to call Olivia tomorrow. Lily chuckled at Dr. Crane's predicament after hanging up. Having been in her pajamas all day Lily quickly dressed. She decided to wear something simple, a pair of jeans and her favorite jersey knit shirt, a forest green v-neck that brought out the red in her hair. It was not what she usually wore when she would be meeting Dr. Crane but she didn't have time to dress like she usually would. Throwing on her tennis shoes Lily started her journey to campus.

Sweat was dripping down her back by the time she reached the psychology building. Though it was cooler than it had been two weeks ago it was still in the high 80's and humid. Stepping inside the blessedly cool building Lily beelined for the water fountains. After quenching her thirst Lily wiped her face then headed up to the offices. When she arrived Dr. Crane was struggling with his door. His face was a bit red and he was muttering very harsh words under his breath about everyone from the janitor to the College Dean.

"Insolent door!" He finally shouted kicking the offending door roughly. There was a brief pause before the door slowly swung open, as though it had been gently tapped and not harshly kicked. Straightening up Dr. Crane fixed his tie and attempted to flatten his hair. "Finally."

Unable to contain herself at the sight Lily giggled. Dr. Crane turned sharply at the noise a scowl on his face which softened to neutrality when he saw who it was. "Miss Taggart. Thank you for coming in on the weekend to assist me."

"Of course, Dr. Crane."

"I did not pull you from anything important did?" He asked as they entered his office.

"Not at all, I was nearly done studying for the day as it was." That was a slight lie but Dr. Crane did not need to know that.

"Excellent, I am pleased that you are working hard on your studies. I have known many a graduate student who believed they could coast by as they did in their undergraduate program. Especially those from private liberal arts colleges."

Lily's eyebrow rose as she sat in the chair across from Dr. Crane's. "Is that a jab at my background, Dr. Crane?"

"What? Oh, that is right, you went to a private college. No, that was not directed at you. As we discussed previously students tend not to be pushed in their classes, in most cases, and I happen to see the trend more in those from private schools. I have always theorized that it was due to not having to work as hard to distinguish themselves from their peers, because of smaller class sizes and the fewer classes one must take to achieve a degree."

"At the private colleges, we always believed that it is the public school students that have the better ability to coast. With such large class sizes, adjunct professors, teacher assistants, and professors more focused on their research than teaching it is easy to slide on through with minimal effort."

"Perhaps, all universities have their positives and negatives. No matter," Dr. Crane took a copy of his intro-level course textbook out of his bag and handed to Lily. "Here, you can use this to help with the questions. Dr. Pigeon desires the quizzes to be between ten and fifteen questions in length, we shall make them the latter. He also wants the new tests to be between fifty and one hundred questions long, we shall make them the latter as well. If I cannot teach my class to the standards I desire then I will to the highest that I am allowed."

"How many quizzes and tests will there be?" Lily inquired flipping open the textbook.

"One quiz for each chapter, that is fifteen and then one test for every five chapters, therefore three. Along with a cumulative final of one-hundred-and-fifty questions."

"Are you against reusing questions from the quizzes on the tests?"

"Yes, though rewording a few questions is not out of the question."

"Will there be study guides for each test?"

"Most certainly, I am still going to use the ones I had initially created. They are highly comprehensive."

"Can I see copies? It might be best to base the questions off those than digging around in the book."

Dr. Crane nodded and turned on his computer. "I will have to print them off, give me a moment."

"Of course, take your time." Lily noted that Dr. Crane's office computer was old, it would take a while until he was able to print the documents off. Knowing she had time, Lily pulled a book from her bag and began to read.

"What book is that?" Dr. Crane inquired after a minute of the fan spinning inside the computer tower as the machine worked on booting up.

"Oh, just a trash novel," Lily replied, embarrassment peppering her tone.

Dr. Crane's eyebrows furrowed together. "What do you mean by trash novel?"

Her face tinged red Lily showed him the cover. The background was of a muscled bare-chested man in a kilt holding a swooning woman in his arms as they stood along a cliffside; the title "To Romance a Rose" was written in golden cursive script at the top.

"Oh." Dr. Crane blinked once before turning to his computer screen and logging in. Still embarrassed Lily put the book back in her bag. "Were you not going to read while you waited," Dr. Crane asked glancing over.

Lily's face flushed even deeper. "I reconsidered, I thought it would be rude."

"Please feel free. Far be it from me to stop someone from reading." Turning his head to fully look at her Dr. Crane's eyes took in her in blush. "Oh I see, you are embarrassed about the content of the book. Perhaps, you believe I think less of you."

"A little," she mumbled biting her lower lip and shrugging. "It is not the most intellectually stimulating read…"

"Yet it does stimulate in other ways." Dr. Crane stiffened slightly and his face flushed a deep red. "What I mean to say is that all reading is intellectually stimulating. That is to say, those types of novels cannot be stimulating in another fashion - not to say you read them for such base reasons - of course, there is nothing wrong with - oh the computer is on!"

The red in Lily's cheeks from embarrassment had vanished and been replaced by repressed laughter. After half a minute Lily was able to control herself and the flush faded from her cheeks. Dr. Crane's face had also returned to its normal color, though he was still determinedly looking at his computer screen. Lily waited patiently for him to print off the study guides.

"I find it rather ridiculous that Dr. Pigeon would change how the course is taught after the semester has already started," she mentioned as the printer chugged along, its age shown in how loud it was.

"Immensely so," Dr. Crane agreed, handing her the first few sheets. "I am sure next semester the textbook will be standardized as well. It will be one of those online books with quiz questions and powerpoints already prepared. We will be expected to go chapter by chapter in lockstep with one another." He tch-ed with disgust.

"Well, perhaps, your teacher's assistant would be useful then. Teach the course freeing you up to do more research with your valuable time."

Dr. Crane looking over the edge of his glasses at her. "We shall see but first we shall satisfy Dr. Piegon's need to meddle in everything."

Lily smiled at him and they set to work.


	4. Halloween

 

It was nearly Halloween, therefore, it was only right that the department holds a small Halloween party. Dr. Pigeon loved get-togethers and would press to have one at any opportunity. Over the past two months, Lily and Dr. Crane had gotten on very well. They were in the middle of writing a paper together on replicating the neurochemicals mice released during times of fear. It was really all Dr. Crane's work, all Lily did was administer the replicated chemicals to the mice and monitor their reactions. Dr. Crane was the genius that created the formula, talented in both psychology and chemistry. Even after a month Lily was in awe of and intimidated by, his intelligence.

"Will I see you at the Halloween party tomorrow night?" Lily asked Dr. Crane as she pulled on her coat. It was after seven, high time that they stop working and head home.

"You are going?" Dr. Crane asked, half distracted as he packed his courier bag with books and papers.

"I thought I would. Halloween is one of my favorite times of the year and Marcus and Alexi asked me to come. I usually celebrated back home so I thought it would be nice to here. There was mention of reading ghost stories and having a costume contest. Besides, I can never turn down free food."

Dr. Crane looked down into his bag. Perhaps checking that he had everything, perhaps contemplating his answer. "Would you like me to come, Miss Taggart?"

"I know gatherings are not inside your usual comfort zone but I think your readings of Lovecraft would scare everyone."

A half smile came over Dr. Crane's lips before he slung the bag over his shoulder and looked at Lily. "I will try to come. Though I am not one for costumes."

Lily smiled. "Thank you, Dr. Crane."

The smile on Dr. Crane face grew at Lily's own. They left together, Lily waiting as Dr. Crane locked the office door. As they walked down the narrow hallway together a door opened further down. Dr. Pigeon's office. A young female undergraduate student came out, her blonde hair mussed, her clothes ruffled. She shut the door behind her, not noticing either of the two watching her, and made her way down the hall her head hung. Her gait was uneven, as though she was sensitive between the legs.

Lily and Dr. Crane watched silently. Lily's face was shocked. Dr. Crane's resigned. Once the girl was down the steps Lily looked up at Dr. Crane, her mouth open but unable to say anything. Still looking ahead Dr. Crane spoke quietly. "We cannot say anything."

Lily's mouth opened further and she inhaled sharply to speak. But Dr. Crane did not give her the chance. He grabbed her by the shoulders and forced her to look him in the eyes. His blue eyes were hard but fiery as they bored into hers. "No. Bill Pigeon has friends in very, very high places. You think there have not been investigations before? There have. Two, during my years here and all of them, were dismissed and the students and staff on the prosecuting side expelled or fired. We  _cannot_ bring this up. Do you understand?"

Closing her mouth Lily nodded. "I understand, Dr. Crane."

"Good." Releasing her Dr. Crane brushed out his suit coat. They walked together once more following the path of the undergraduate student. Outside, where they usually parted ways, both paused.

"I know it will be difficult," Dr. Crane said looking into the distance. "If you feel you must make your report, but please, leave me out of it. I cannot risk being blacklisted."

"I told you I understand, Dr. Crane," Lily repeated, her tone darker than usual. "I will not say a word...honestly, in Gotham, what else would you expect?"

Dr. Crane gave a short nod. "Then I bid you goodnight, Miss Taggart."

"Goodnight, Dr. Crane." Lily turned to the left towards her apartments while Dr. Crane turned right to the parking lot. As she walked home Lily's face was in a frown. She had heard passing rumors about Dr. Pigeon's activities but to have them confirmed like that? It was not what she expected. This was a moral dilemma she thought she would never face. Take the moral high ground and report him? No, according to Dr. Crane that was useless. Then do wrong by ignoring it? That felt dirty.

What options did she have otherwise? Lily had worked far too hard to lose everything. She would not risk her education, her career in such a way. That may be how institutionalized abuse continued but this was Gotham. Institutionalized abuse was part of the charm.

* * *

Lily leaned against the wall observing the room. There was a mess of costumes before her, from sexy cats to cartoon characters and popular memes to old-fashioned monsters. Lily was the later, a good old fashioned monster. One just couldn't go wrong with dressing as a vampire. Although she loved Halloween Lily, like Dr. Crane, was not one for costumes - at least in inventiveness. Though, as her outfit suggested, when she decided on a costume it was not a cheap or store bought, it was made to last. This costume was Victorian style, a black and red corset over a properly ruffled cream blouse and matched with a black skirt. Her makeup was dark around the eyes and lips and pale in the face; while a pair of molded fangs completed the costume.

"Ah, my dark bride, are you watching your prey?" A voice said next to Lily, familiar even with its fake accent. She glanced over at Marcus who was dress as Dracula.

"Bride? No, young one. I am ancient, you did not create me." Lily replied before taking a sip of her "blood punch".

"Ah, come on, Lily," Marcus whined. "Play along. I'm Dracula, you can be Mina."

He moved closer to her placing an arm on the wall so he was half leaning over her. "You can be flesh of my flesh, blood of my blood."

"Cross land or sea to do your bidding? No thanks, Marcus."

"Miss Taggart," another familiar voice said to the other side of Lily. "Mister McTaggart."

"Dr. Crane," Lily greeted with relief in her voice. "I'm so glad you came. You are looking very sharp." He was wearing a black three-piece suit and tie, his usually messy hair was combed and slicked over as well. Dr. Crane had attempted a costume but Lily could not tell quite who or what he was supposed to be.

"Thank you, Miss Taggart. You look well put together."

Marcus gave a condescending chuckle. "'Well put together.' Don't worry, Lily, I think you look hot. Wanna dance?"

Lily narrowed her eyes just enough to show her annoyance. "No thank you, Marcus. Not now."

"Alright, I'll catch you later then, leave you two alone to stare awkwardly at everyone who is enjoying themselves." He laughed and left.

"He is such an ass," Lily muttered.

"Yet, you came here at his invitation." Dr. Crane commented taking a place next to Lily on the wall.

"Yeah, but I was hoping he was going to be distracted by everyone else." Lily finished her drink and looked at Dr. Crane. "Your hair is different, are you trying for a slight costume?"

"I am, minimalist but I believe it works. Can you guess? I will give you a hint it is a real person, not a fictional character."

Lily frowned continuing to examine him, trying to think. He offered up another hint. "An author that has gained a cult following."

"Are you...are you Lovecraft?" She asked hesitantly.

Dr. Crane smiled widely. "Precisely, very good."

Lily smiled as well. "I do remember you saying he his one of your favorite authors."

"And who are you," he inquired the smile still on his face.

"Oh, I'm just a regular vampire, not one in particular. Unless you can think of one that would fit."

Now it was Dr. Crane's turn to look over Lily. As he did so Lily felt a blush creep up her neck. After several long seconds of silence between them, Dr. Crane offered a suggestion. "Lilith. Mother of demons often portrayed with fiery red hair and also said to feed on the blood of men. A vampire."

Lily blinked. "That is actually a really good suggestion. Alright. Then I am Lilith."

At the front of the room, Dr. Pigeon was waving tell everyone to quiet down. Once the attention of the room was on him he smiled broadly. "I am so thrilled that all of you could make it. Such wonderful costumes too. And let's thank our Psi Chi chapter for providing the snacks and drinks."

There was a polite round of applause. "Now then, as is tradition, it is time for the sharing of ghost stories. If you would like to tell a story come to the front. Everyone else take a seat. Once we are all ready we will dim the lights and witness the terror!"

A few people chuckled before all started to move. A few people went to the front, Marcus, and Ned among them. Lily looked over to Dr. Crane. "Shall we sit?"

He glanced over at her. "You can. As long as I am dressed the part of Lovecraft, I will put the dread of the Old Ones in them."

Lily laughed and gave a nod. "I am sure your story will be the best." Moving off the wall she found a seat near the front. Dr. Crane stepped into line as the last person to share a story. When all had stopped moving Dr. Pigeon turned off the lights leaving the only source of light to be the flashlight held by the storyteller. The first to go was a young Junior undergraduate with the tale of Solomon Grundy, a classic in Gotham Lily learned. Next a third-year graduate student with a "personal" tale of an experience during her current internship at Arkham Asylum. A couple more students went with rather unremarkable and unoriginal stories. Marcus was next with a joke ghost story of the cursed term paper. Another bland storyteller went and then it was Dr. Crane's turn. He took the flashlight and pointed it towards the floor instead of on his face. It was far eerier.

"Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen," he said a dark grandiosity in his tone that Lily had not heard before. "Tonight I am going to instruct you on the nature of fear."

"Jonathan," Dr. Pigeon chuckled, "we want ghost stories not a lecture on fear."

"Stories?" Dr. Crane continued, in the same dark manner. "No. We all know ghost stories are not real. What is not real cannot harm us. Therefore, I will teach you fear with reality. My name is Howard Lovecraft and tonight you shall learn the nature of the Old Ones…"

Dr. Crane continued to tell his tale. It was truly like a lecture, one could believe he was giving facts, but they had the flourishes that made it a story. Lily was entranced by his voice. No matter what he spoke of - be it a writhing mass of tentacles, the eldritch horror, or a shredded mass of corpses - his tone never changed. Like a man who had seen all these horrors and become numb to them, he continued onwards.

As the minutes ticked by Lily started to feel the atmosphere of the room change. The air became tense with anxiety. Even in the dark, she heard people stiffen as though readying themselves to flee. Slowly the stench of fear rose in the room.

"Can you feel their eyes on you? All those eyes. Staring. Unblinking. They watch. They know. When you sense another presence in the room. It is them. When the hairs stand up on back of your neck without cause. They are there. We cannot escape them." Dr. Crane turned off the flashlight plunging them into darkness.

"Hear their dark whispers. The unnatural, guttural language. Shoggoth. Cthulhu. Azathoth. The Old Ones. This world will fall to them. Surrender to them. There is no escape. Surrender and you may be granted the mercy of a quick death. Their writhing masses are drawing near. They are coming. Listen."

Dr. Crane fell silent. The tension in the room was palpable. Lily's heart was thudding in her chest. Her skin felt hot, overly sensitive to the beads of sweat forming on the back of her neck. Suddenly, the flashlight flicked back on illuminating Dr. Crane's stoic face. "Thank you."

The uneasy silence of the room continued for several long seconds. Finally, Lily broke from her reverie and started to clap. The noise startled the others to action and they began to clap as well. Dr. Pigeon turned on the lights and the room breathed a notable sigh of relief. Without a word, though with a pleased sparkle in his eyes, Dr. Crane set the flashlight on the nearest table and moved back to the wall.

Lily got up as the others began nervously chatting. She joined Dr. Crane by the wall a thrilled expression on her face. "That was brilliant Dr. Crane! I had no idea you were such a talented storyteller! You put Lovecraft himself to shame."

"Thank you, Miss Taggart, you flatter me. All I did was summarize the mythos with a bit of added flair."

"No, no," Lily insisted, "it was more than that. The way you presented the story. Maybe you did not do it intentionally, but your voice. How calm and steady it was the whole time. Almost like a hypnotist's. And the use of the flashlight...sorry. I'm a little over excited. That was the perfect level of fear to get my adrenaline pumping. Just very excited."

"You need not apologize," Dr. Crane told her with an amused look. "But please, do not give away my secrets."

Lily gave him a playfully serious look. "Of course, Dr. Crane. Never."

Dr. Crane looked past Lily to someone approaching them. "Jonathan. Lily."

"Bill." Dr. Crane greeted Dr. Pigeon, fading from his face.

"Dr. Pigeon," Lily greeted as well her excitement quickly draining.

"That was some tale, Jonathan. I didn't know you could spin a yarn like that. You might be in the wrong profession. With talent like that, you should be causing terror not studying it. Isn't that right, Lily?"

"But surely, my study of the nature of fear assists me when I have the need to cause it." Dr. Crane replied. Lily stayed silent but Dr. Pigeon did not notice.

"Perhaps, perhaps. Still a brilliant story. You shall have to come every year now. I will not have us missing thrills like this."

"We shall see, I only came tonight because Miss Taggart requested."

"Well then, my dear," Dr. Pigeon said directly to Lily, "you shall have to request every year you are here. I insist upon it."

"Of course, Dr. Pigeon," she told him, her tone chilled.

"And don't you just look lovely," he continued really looking at Lily for the first time tonight. His sweeping gaze made her feel sick. "Very alluring but then vampires are creatures of seduction are they not? Did you come with Marcus, a couples costume?"

"No. That was incidental. I am Lilith. Mother of demons. The first vampire." Out of the corner of her eye, Lily saw Dr. Crane lips twitch into a quick smirk.

"A succubus, also." Dr. Pigeon added, a perverted glint in his gaze as he looked her over again.

"A woman that wouldn't submit to a man's desires." Lily retorted.

Dr. Pigeon gave a derisive chuckle. "If you say so."

"Miss Taggart, I just thought of something for our paper," Dr. Crane intervened. "If you will excuse us, Bill."

"Always working, yes, of course," Dr. Pigeon replied quickly. "Good job again, Jonathan." The older man left but not before his eyes raked over Lily one last time.

"Thank you, Dr. Crane," Lily said once Dr. Pigeon was gone.

"Naturally," he replied with an incline of his head. "I simply regret that I had to intervene for him to leave you alone."

Lily gave a small shrug. "That's life. A man will respect another man's request more than a woman's. Particularly, in affairs concerning the woman. When I was in undergrad, a few times I went out with my friends, men would hit on me. Mostly I was uninterested and told them so but they persisted. So eventually I had to pretend I had a boyfriend to get them to stop. Lot's of women have to do that."

"That is precisely what I mean. I regret that men do not respect a woman's wishes to the point where other men must intervene to cease unwanted attention. Men and women are equals, both equally capable. Not that I need to explain that to you."

"And yet, we still turn a blind eye." Lily referenced what they had seen last night.

Dr. Crane's lips tightened. "That has more to do with the power structure and bribes. If it were not guaranteed that nothing would change and all consequences would fall on us, I would report him in a heartbeat. I would have reported him when I was a student."

Lily was silent for a moment. Her eyes trained out over the crowd. "I believe you. There is a rotten taste in my mouth because of all this but I believe you. I suppose I am too self-centered to risk my own future to do the right thing as well. So there we are."

After a few moments of silence, Lily gave a small sigh. She had lost the taste for the party. "I believe I am going to go. These heeled boots are killing my feet and I do not believe anything will top your story the rest of the night."

"Allow me to walk you out. I have no desire to be here if you are leaving."

"Thank you, Dr. Crane," Lily replied. She felt nice knowing that Dr. Crane had come only because of her. Though Lily was aware her little crush on him could amount to nothing, it felt good knowing that she had made a connection to him in that way.

Together they left Lily waving farewell to a few people on the way out. The late October air was chilly and Lily was glad for her long sleeves and thick skirt. There were people waiting by the bus stop, undergraduates already drunk from pre-Halloween parties fun. They caught sight of Lily and began to catcall.

"Hey, baby!"

"Looking good!"

"Vampire, right? I got something you can suck!"

"Leave the stiff behind, I got a better one for you!"

Mouth set in a hard line Lily looked to Dr. Crane, who was looking at the boys with daggers in his eyes. After a moment Dr. Crane breathed in sharply and glanced to Lily. "A drive home?"

"Thank you, yes," Lily replied with relief. She had been hoping that he would offer. They both turned towards the parking lot, ignoring the boys completely. The catcalling continued for a bit but soon faded away as the boys became bored.

Lily wait as Dr. Crane cleaned the passenger seat of all papers and books. He held the door open for her as she got in before going around to the driver's side. Turning the car on Dr. Crane waited half a minute for the heat to start issuing from the vents before driving off.

"Darwin street, correct?" He inquired as they turned out of the parking lot.

"Yes…" As the passed the boys the catcalled again. This time their calls directed at Dr. Crane and how he was a "lucky bastard".

"Disgusting," Dr. Crane muttered under his breath.

"I don't see how any woman could sleep with oafs like those," Lily added in agreement.

"Simple, they aren't women. They are girls, immature like those boys, controlled by hormones and the unreasonable instinct to mate," he replied.

Lily chuckled. "Very true. Of course, us intellectuals have completely overcome base instinct and the influence of hormones."

"Of course," Dr. Crane said with such seriousness that Lily thought he was until she saw a smirk on his lips. There was a brief moment of silence before Dr. Crane spoke again. "It has always been my private belief that true intellectuals are separated out from the pretenders by how we control our impulses in favor of treating others with respect. Marcus and Dr. Pigeon may be intelligent but their behavior markedly shows they are not intellectuals."

"Do you do that then, Dr. Crane," Lily asked with a cheeky smile.

"Naturally. For example, if I were to compliment your beauty I would not leer at you and make lewd sexual advances that are not reciprocated. Better yet, because of the power difference in our relationship, I would not say anything at all." Dr. Crane stopped the car outside of her apartment building, putting it into park for her to get out. "All hypothetical, of course, if I wished to compliment your beauty."

Lily smiled a light blush coming over her cheeks. "Thank you for the ride, Dr. Crane. And thank you for not saying anything at all...I believe I follow your line of thought, I would do the same about your handsomeness. I will see you Monday."

Getting out of the car Lily went up to the front door of her building. Pulling out her keys she unlocked the door and stepped inside. Glancing back she saw that Dr. Crane sitting in his car staring out to the windshield. Though it was dark, Lily could swear that his face was bright red.


	5. Winter Wonderland

It was the last day of the year before Gotham University closed for winter break. Snow was lightly drifting from the sky turning the dirty, grey city white for a time. Inside the psychology building two overly studious people were bent over books and computers in the top corner office. Lily and Dr. Crane were the only ones left in the old brownstone building. The other professors and graduate students had gone home early to avoid the snow and simply because it was three days before Christmas. On the other hand, the pair had decided to continue working. Lily's train did not leave until the next morning and Dr. Crane was...Dr. Crane.

A phone rang breaking the contented silence the two were sitting in. Both looked around for the source of the noise before Lily realized it was her cell phone. "Hello?" She answered after retrieving it.

" _Hello, dear."_ Her mother said on the other end of the line. " _I just wanted to make sure of the time that your train will arrive tomorrow. What is eight at night?"_

"No, Mom," Lily sighed into the phone giving Dr. Crane an apologetic look. "My train  _leaves_  Gotham at eight in the morning and I will arrive in the station in Burlington around one."

" _Right, right, silly me."_

"Listen, Mom, I can't really talk. I'm finishing up some last minute work with Dr. Crane right now."

" _Oh, of course! I'll let you get back to it. Don't forget to find out what his sign is! Bye dear!"_

"Bye, Mom." Lily hung up. "Sorry, Dr. Crane. My mom was just checking to see when she needs to pick me up tomorrow."

"It is of no bother," Dr. Crane replied. He glanced down at his watch then outside at the drifting snow. "Perhaps, we should call it a day before the snow buries my car. The buses have already shut down on campus, I will give you a ride."

Lily looked down at her watch too before shutting her laptop. "Thank you very much, Dr. Crane. I can finish up my portion of the paper over the break."

Putting her laptop in her bag Lily packed her belongings away. As she did so a thought occurred to her. "Have you heard back about the mice paper by chance?"

"We just sent it in three weeks ago," Dr. Crane reminded her. "It has had no time to be reviewed, give it a couple months before you ask again. I know you are excited but I am confident that it will be accepted with minor revision."

"Yes, sorry. You're right, I'm really excited about it. It's my first paper and all. And we're already working on another one. It is thrilling."

"I felt the same way when I was in your position," Dr. Crane told her giving her one of his rare full smiles. "I must say though the work did on the paper was not that of a greenhorn. Between that and the work we are doing together, sometimes I forget that you are my advisee, not my colleague, Miss Taggart."

"Oh," Lily replied shortly as a deep blush of embarrassment and pride came over her face. "Th-thank you, Dr. Crane. I am honored you would think that."

"Of course, I only speak the truth." Dr. Crane moved around his desk to the coat rack to put on his winter wear. Lily put in her own gear which was draped over the back of her chair. When they were sufficiently bundled up for the weather they left. Such was their habit by now they walked in time with each other Dr. Crane opening each door without missing a beat. Dr. Crane's car sat in its normal spot in the employee parking lot covered in an inch or two of snow. Carefully he unlocked the door for Lily grabbing the brush as he did so. Once she was inside he handed her the keys. "Start warming it up."

Taking the keys she turned on the engine and cranked up the heat while Dr. Crane brushed off the windows. By the time he got into the car, it was toasty warm. Putting the car into to drive he carefully pulled out of the parking spot. The plows had not been by yet meaning he would have to be careful driving. Going much slower than normal Lily was the first one to break the silence. "I never asked but what are you doing for the holidays?"

"Working and I plan to catch up on some reading."

"No family plans?"

Dr. Crane was silent for a moment. "No."

"Oh," Lily looked away embarrassed at her own prying.

"Do you enjoy the snow?" Dr. Crane asked after another moment.

"I do. Right up until New Years then it can go away for all I care. Do you?"

"Not really, when I first moved up North I did due to its novelty but now it is an inconvenience when driving, but inside with a cup of coffee and a book I still see the appeal."

"You're from the South? Where?" Lily asked surprised as Dr. Crane had no hint of an accent.

Dr. Crane took another moment to respond. "Georgia."

Lily looked at him with surprise. "Oh, huh. Never would have guessed that."

She was feeling a bit awkward they never had really spoken about their personal lives before. All Lily knew previously about Dr. Crane was that he lived alone and was single, other than that nothing until now. Luckily they had arrived at her apartment so she did not have to feel awkward for long. Reaching into her bag Lily pulled out a small gift bag and offered it to Dr. Crane. "Here, I hope you do not find this inappropriate but Merry Christmas, Dr. Crane."

Forcing the gift into his surprised hands she got out of the car before he could deny it. Hurrying up to the door she glanced a back to see Dr. Crane peering past the tissue paper. It wasn't much just some homemade cookies and a handmade card. As Lily opened the door she heard Dr. Crane roll down his window and call out to her. "Thank you...Merry Christmas, Lily."

Beaming Lily smiled at him and waved before disappearing inside.

* * *

"It is a new compound," Dr. Crane informed Lily as she peered into the vial of yellowish liquid he had handed her. The cumulation of his work over the winter break. "Similar to the one we used on the mice, but I believe more potent. We are going to see if the results can be replicated in rats."

"Working our way up the size chain?" Lily commented with a smirk giving the vial back to him. "And the IRB will approve it?"

"Of course, they will. My project was awarded a million dollar grant if I do not go through with these tests they are out their share of the money."

It was a good thing that Lily had given the vial back because surely she would have dropped it at that number. "A million? Who gave you that?!"

"A private funder, the Lazarus Foundation for Biochemical Research. Our work on the mice was from a smaller grant they gave me. As that research was a success they have given me funding to continue my work. It is enough for trials on rats than rabbits and then a larger animal afterward. So yes, working our way up in size."

Dr. Crane looked at the vial in his hand. "A part of me wonders how strong this would have to be to work on humans."

Lily looked at the vial as well. Then said in a half-serious manner, "Well, a scientist can test anything on themselves without an ethics board approval."

"Indeed," Dr. Crane muttered to himself, holding the vial up so it shined in the light between them.

Across the desk, their eyes met. The span of two heartbeats passed the in unison they moved. Lily went to lock the office door as Dr. Crane pulled a clean needle from his experimental supplies. From her bag, she removed the camcorder she used for their experiments while Dr. Crane measured 10ccs of the compound - nearly the whole vial. The camcorder was set up and ready to record by the time Dr. Crane sat down and rolled up his left sleeve.

"Human trial test one, subject Dr. Jonathan Crane, Gotham City University Professor. Observer Lily Taggart 1st year Graduate student. Dr. Crane, this formal you created has not been approved by any government agency and has yet to be tested on humans. It is known to induce fear in mice, do you understand the risks?"

Dr. Crane looked at the camera. "Yes, I fully understand the risks and choose to self-administer this compound. Lily Taggart holds no responsibility if anything goes awry. Lily if you would take my starting heart rate."

Lily kneeled next to the chair pressed two fingers against Dr. Crane's wrist. Looking at her watch she counted. "Heart rate before the injection is 72 beats per minute, perspiration minimal, pupils undilated, breathing steadying.

Looking down at his arm he lined up the needle with the vein. His eyes met Lily's and he breathed out slowly before injecting himself. Dr. Crane grit his teeth as he pulled out the needle and waited for the compound to affect him. Several long seconds passed.

"Ten seconds after injection no change to heart rate, all other signs normal."

More time passed. "Thirty seconds after injection, heart increased to 76 beats per minute."

Dr. Crane breathed in sharply and Lily looked up at him. His eyes were unusually wide. "Forty seconds after injection subject's breathing changed. Faster, deeper. Heart rate...86 beats per minute. Perspiration increasing on forehead. Pupils show slight dilation."

She watched as Dr. Crane's eyes darted around as though looking for something. His head turned towards the window. Eventually, though his behavior lessened and his vitals were returning to normal. "One minute fifteen seconds after injection subject's heart rate is returning to normal. Pupils are no longer dilated, breathing is even...Dr. Crane, how do you feel?"

"I am fine, Lily. It seems as though there were only slight physiological responses. Nothing like the terror responses the mice exhibited. I felt more anxious than scared...you may release my wrist now."

Lily jerk her hand away with an apology. Standing up she turned off the camera as Dr. Crane readjusted his sleeve. "Can I say something questionable," Lily asked quietly.

Dr. Crane looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "You may."

"That-that was rather thrilling. Testing it on a human, that is."

Looking at empty space past Lily Dr. Crane breathed in slowly. "I suppose it was. That is the ultimate goal, after all, to take our findings and apply them to humans. To understand human fear."

"To make that formal strong enough to affect humans they way it does mice would be a dangerous thing."

Dr. Crane was silent for a long moment. "Yes, but should that stop us? As scientists should we cease the pursuit of knowledge simply because the knowledge could be dangerous?"

It was Lily's turn for a long moment of contemplation. When she replied it was without question in her decision, "No."

Standing, Dr. Crane approached Lily. He towered over her and his eyes never left hers. It would have been easy to be intimidated by such a position but Lily was not. Dr. Crane was searching her eyes for her resolve in her choice. "I am glad to hear that, Lily."

Placing a hand on her shoulder and squeezed gently. It was the most familiar touch he had ever given her. Removing the hand he moved to unlock the door. "Now, the CBP conference in Richmond is in two months have you arranged your room and transport?"

"I admit I have been remiss in arranging either of those," Lily told him releasing a breathing she had not realized she had been holding. "I know Ned and Alexi are going too and last month we were discussing driving together and getting a hotel room, but I haven't spoken with them further."

"I suggest you finalize your plans. However, may I also suggest, I am driving as well and would enjoy a companion."

"Really? That sounds great, thank you. I would be glad to accompany you."

"Excellent. Additionally, I know it is different as we are different sexes, however, as a graduate student, I would always share a room with Dr. Pigeon when we went to conferences. If you feel comfortable I would offer the same to you. I am staying in the conference hotel, the department has given me funds for a room there. There would be no cost to you. I take no offense if you do not feel comfortable, with the example my male colleagues have set in this department, I completely understand any reservations."

Lily replied at once. "I know you are not like them, Dr. Crane. Thank you. I have no reservations in sharing a room with you. My question is do you have any reservations sharing a room with me?"

"I would not have offered if I did."

"Sounds good, then. Thank you, Dr. Crane. I am looking forward to the conference."

Dr. Crane gave her a brief smile. "It is your first time having a paper at a conference, correct?"

"Yes, I went to a few when I was an upperclassman as an undergraduate observer but that was all. Actually, at my first one, I saw you present. I will admit I was rather inspired by your work, compared to all the others you were the one pushing the boundaries the most."

"Really? Thank you. Perhaps you can inspire somebody as well. I want you to present the bulk of our paper."

"What?" Lily's voice held a hint of worry in it.

"You will do fine, I have confidence in you. I can field the questions and answers but you know the work well enough that there is no reason you cannot do the presentation portion."

"I-Of course, I would be glad to do the presentation. Thank you for the confidence."

"You deserve it, Lily."

* * *

An ice slick had caused a large accident and subsequent traffic backup on the roads around the psychology building. Even on the top floor with the windows shut tight, Dr. Crane and Lily could hear the honks of the traffic jam below, 5 pm was always the worst time for an accident.

"Damn it all, I cannot work with that noise," Dr. Crane hissed as a new round of honking went off outside. Lily looked up at him from the desk they had acquisitioned for her; technically she had a desk of her own in the Graduate Student Office on the floor below but she found it far easier to work when in Dr. Crane's office and he did not mind her presence.

"I'm finding it difficult too," she told him setting down her pencil. "Perhaps we should end it here for today?"

Outside someone blared their horn for three whole seconds. Dr. Crane's low lid twitched on his right eye. "Yes, that seems like a wonderful idea. However, I refuse to leave in this traffic...Lily, do you play chess?"

"I have played before, but I wouldn't say that I "play"."

Dr. Crane nodded, "many people do not. To pass the time until traffic clears, would you like to play? I will go easy on you."

"How benevolent. Alright, Dr. Crane, you are on." Getting up from her desk she helped Dr. Crane clear his of papers. From the top of one of his bookshelves, Dr. Crane pulled down a pricey-looking wooden folding chess board. Lily had wondered what the box was before but had never asked. Given what she knew of Dr. Crane this chess set was probably one of the few non-book related luxury items he owned.

"You can be white," Dr. Crane told her as he set up the chessboard.

"I don't think it will help but thanks." Looking over her pieces Lily thought briefly before sliding her second right pawn two spaces forwards.

Fifteen minutes later Lily tipped over her King with a shrug. "I find the outcome unsurprising, I could tell I was outmatched after a minute."

"Yes, I did not realize how much of beginner you were...here let us play again. I shall try a teaching game this time, and please actually think about your moves before making them. You were completely irrational in your decisions."

"Whatever you want, Dr. Crane."

Three games later and Lily had Dr. Crane on the defensive in the final stretch of their match. She stared at the board calculating her options before moving the Queen-side bishop forward three spaces. Dr. Crane responded by moving his King-side rook over a space. "Check."

Lily's eyes widened as she realized that she had left herself open. Sliding her own rook over she blocked his attack. Two more moves passed between the each. "Checkmate," Dr. Crane said and Lily sighed.

"That was a much better game, you caught on quickly, as I expected you would."

"Thank you, that was fun. A different sort of mental exercise." Casually Lily glanced at her watch. "Oh wow, it's after seven. I really need to get home and eat."

"Naturally. Allow me to give you a ride home. After all, it is my fault you are here so late."

With their late nights in the lab and the cold weather, Lily had grown used to Dr. Crane driving her home after sunset when the buses were no longer operating. "Thank you, Dr. Crane. That is appreciated, as usual."

* * *

The rat squeaked and squealed with terror as Dr. Crane and Lily passively observed him. "Heart rate increasing," Lily told Dr. Crane reading off the computer monitor hooked up to the machine measuring the rat's vitals. "Brain activity erratic, the visual and auditory areas are lighting up?"

Narrowing her eyes Lily double checked the screen. The rats they had ordered were deaf and blind as per their specifications. Their experiments required as little outside stimuli as possible to show that it was truly the compound triggering the fear and not anything else. As the rats were deaf and blind there was no reason for the visual and auditory areas to be active unless… "Dr. Crane, I think it is experiencing hallucinations."

Pulling his attention away from the rat Dr. Crane came over to look at the screen. A faint expression of realization passed over his face, as though the results had some hidden meaning. "Lily, the compound is not simply triggering the fear response. I believe it may be creating a simulation of what would normally trigger the rat's fear response. As you said hallucinations."

"But we cannot be sure, it is not like we can ask the rat what it is experiencing."

"No, and this equipment is not sensitive enough to determine if the brain is lighting up in the same way as it would with the presence of a predator. All we can see is its basic physiological and neurological responses." A sneer of displeasure crossed Dr. Crane's face. "I bring in the largest grant this department has seen in a decade - which I only see a quarter of after the university, college, and department take their cuts - and they cannot even spare the funds to upgrade the equipment my research is based around."

With a deep sigh, Dr. Crane pinched his brow, "I apologize. Departmental politics."

"No worries," Lily told him with a smile. "Feel free to-"

Whatever Lily was going to say next was interrupted by the computer beeping. Looking at the screen she blanched. "Subject's heart rate is beyond healthy limits. Dr. Crane the rat is going-"

This time Lily cut herself off as the heart of the rat stopped suddenly. The high pitched squealing which had become their background noise ceased leaving the room eerily silent. Dr. Crane and Lily looked at each other with expressions of surprise. This was something that had never happened to any of the mice. As one, the pair moved over to the cage to peer inside at their deceased subject.

"How much did we give him again?" Dr. Crane asked with some surprise in his tone.

"Half a cc, the starting amount we gave the mice."

Dr. Crane nodded slowly before reaching into the cage and disconnecting the rat. "Either this rat had a defective heart or my new compound is much more potent than I calculated."


	6. The Conference

Lily's heart pounded in her throat. To help calm herself she was playing with the pen in her hands, hiding the nervous tic by hiding it under the table. The room before the panel table where she sat was slowly filling up. Next to her sat Dr. Crane in his best suit, a navy blue three-piece with a brown tie. She was - unintentionally - dressed in a dark blue pants suit with a brown blouse underneath. Remembering their surprise at the similarity made Lily smile which helped calm her nerves.

"You will do well," Dr. Crane said to her in a hushed tone. "No reason to be afraid."

"I am not afraid," Lily quietly hissed back.

"Then show it."

Breathing in deeply Lily calmed herself and sat up straighter. She put the pen on the table and folded her hands on top of her notebook. The more confident position boosted her inner confidence removing her nervousness. Besides her, Dr. Crane smirked in pleasure at the change.

After Lily's nerves vanished the time passed quickly. The room of forty or so chairs filled completely, the first paper was presented, and before Lily knew it was time for her to present hers and Dr. Crane's paper. Standing up she went to the podium and pulled up the powerpoint presentation that had been previously downloaded onto the desktop. Expanding the title slide to fit the screen she gave a small but confident smile to the audience.

"Good day, I am Lily Taggart graduate student and I will be presenting the paper that Dr. Jonathan Crane and I are currently working on, for the time being, entitled: 'The Cognitive Processes Behind the Management of Acquired Fear Responses'. Our study looks at three key areas…"

As she had practiced Lily gave the presentation on her and Dr. Crane's paper. Once she had started she breezed through explaining the hypotheses, the method, the data, and their conclusions. When she had finished there was a polite round of applause as she sat back down. While the next presenter opened up his powerpoint Dr. Crane leaned over and whispered in Lily's ear. "Excellent job."

"Thank you," she whispered back before they both turned to look listen to the next paper.

After their panel was released Dr. Crane and Lily escaped from the room before anyone could waylay them with additional questions or conversation. They were one of the first to the small catering area where the conference host provided finger food and drinks. Loading up a napkin each and pouring coffee into the styrofoam cups, with enough to stave off their hunger until the complimentary dinner Dr. Crane and Lily snuck into a freshly emptied room to eat. They had half an hour to themselves until the next panel in this room.

"How did you find the experience?" Dr. Crane asked her taking a sip of his coffee.

"Thrilling," Lily replied. "Once I began I realized that all my worries had been for nothing. Though I am glad you were fielding the questions afterward. I can't believe that girl was questioning the ethicality of our experiments on the mice! That wasn't even similar to the paper presented."

Dr. Crane's lips twitched in a small smile. "It happens. Some people have no tact. What panel are you going to next?"

Lily took out her program to check, "I did not see one that piqued my interest."

"I am in a similar position. Would you be interested in taking a walk together? The river and the park is not too far from here."

"Sure," Lily replied with a smile. "It would be nice to enjoy the weather before heading back to Gotham's dreary snow."

Finishing their food and coffee Dr. Crane and Lily left the conference for the temperate late March weather. They crossed the street and soon found themselves entering the riverside park. As they made their way towards the river Lily smiled at the budding signs of spring around them. "This is so different than Gotham," Lily commented, "it feels a bit strange, doesn't it?"

"The weather?" Dr. Crane asked a tad confused.

"No, the city. It is just so...clean and bright? Does that make sense? Gotham is continually overcast. Trash and the homeless spill out of every alleyway. Crime is rampant and everything seems to be slightly off-kilter, a tad twisted."

Dr. Crane nodded and gave a small smile. "I understand." He looked around the park and gave another small nod. "You are right. The atmosphere here is much different than Gotham's. The air in Gotham is...aberrant."

"If I believed in such things, I would say that the land of Gotham rests on is cursed; but, perhaps, what assists that feeling is the architecture. I have not seen a single gargoyle or grotesque while here."

"The gothic architecture does make Gotham unique. The design of the buildings, their height, how close they are together, along with the soot and grime, could all might factor into a sort of unconscious arousal of fear that gives Gotham its aberrant feel."

"Indeed, and then that underlying fear shapes the way people behave and their mental state. Gothamites, especially in the lower income areas, are probably in a constant state of psychological distress."

"Which in turns leads to increased risk of mental illness, the inability to maintain meaningful employment, then turning to petty crime to make ends," Dr. Crane continued.

"A rise in petty crime leads to an actual sense of fear and greater psychological distress for the residents. The cycle continues itself."

"Therefore, to break the cycle we need to purge Gotham of fear." At his conclusion, Dr. Crane and Lily looked at each smiling before both began to laugh. The idea that one could rid a person, let alone a whole city, of fear was comical.

"If only," Lily said with another shorter laugh. "Though perhaps there are things that can be done to reduce the fear. Taking the government and police out of hands of organized crime would be a start."

Dr. Crane smirked. "As if that would ever happen. Gotham has a rich history of corruption. It would be like England getting rid of their monarchy."

"I wouldn't be too sure about that Dr. Crane, perhaps the city simply needs the right catalyst. Have you heard about that vigilante that is supposedly going after the mobs? They say he is actually making an impact."

"You believe that tabloid level reporting? Here I thought you were intelligent."

Lily frowned and leaned against the railing overlooking the river. "The rumors must be based in some truth. Something is scaring the criminals in the Narrows and the crime rates have been down the past few months, more so than usual for winter."

Dr. Crane looked over the railing a contemplative look on his face. "Perhaps, I still doubt that the vigilante will change anything. No man can make that change by himself. There would have to be people within the system that help it change. And in Gotham, I highly doubt that there is."

* * *

Ned and Alexi sat across from Lily looking over the schedule of presentations for tomorrow while waiting for their food. They had convinced her to join them for a late dinner at a decent mid-priced restaurant down the street from the conference hotel. "So Lily," Alexi said looking up from the schedule, "I noticed you and Crane went for a stroll."

Lily looked up from her own schedule, taking a second to process the words spoken to her. "Yes, we took a short break from all the people after our presentation this afternoon. If you have time I would recommend a walk in the park along the river as well, it is beautiful."

"It sounds romantic," Alexi replied a note of teasing in her voice that Lily didn't immediately catch.

"I suppose so, are you and Ned...oh." Her eyes went wide when she realized what Alexi was implying. "Please, it is nothing like that. Dr. Crane is my mentor."

Ned, ever the man of few words, spoke up. "You're sharing a room."

"And dressed the same, it was so cute," Alexi added.

"Yes, just as he and Dr. Pigeon shared a room to save money when he was a grad student. We have separate beds and our clothes were just a coincidence."

Alexi and Ned exchanged a disbelieving look before their incredulous faces returned to Lily. "You don't need to hide it," Alexi said, "We all know how you guys close and lock his office door sometimes, how you spend all that time in the lab, and he has driven you home on multiple occasions. Nobody in the department cares. I'm pretty sure half of us are rooting for it, especially Dr. Pigeon."

"We all thought Crane was super deep in the closet before this," Ned commented as he finished off his beer.

Lily stared between her two companions in disbelief of their words. "I can't even...We close the door because office hours are over and we don't want people bothering us while we work and he has only driven me home like seven or eight times all because he was being nice and concerned about my safety. I just...okay, look. Even if Dr. Crane was attracted to me he is very much concerned with his image within the field and getting tenure and there is no way he would put that at risk to bone his grad student."

Alexi was smirking. "So are you saying that you are attracted to him?"

"What," Lily's face went a bit pale but she managed to pull off a confused expression. Had she confessed to that? It had been months since Lily had first admitted that she found Dr. Crane attractive and she still do so, but she had never mentioned that anyone besides her friend Olivia.

"Lily, you didn't say that your apparent lack of attraction to Crane as a reason why it would not work, ergo you are attracted to him. Come on just admit it. Tell me and I'll make sure Marcus lays off flirting with you, and I promise not to tell anyone."

Breathing out heavily Lily looked Alexi dead in the eyes. "Dr. Crane and I share a great deal in common, beyond our research interests. Yes, we get along well. And yes, I find him moderately attractive but only in a casual manner - and hell, probably only because of the exposure effect and my currently limited mate options. Even if he felt the same casual attraction I would  _not_  sleep with him, especially while he is my mentor. Also, Marcus should lay off flirting with me because I told him to like ten times and it is getting kinda creepy that he's not."

Alexi was smile like a cat with a canary and even Ned was smiling with satisfaction. "Alright, alright. Fair enough, Lily. But I will say you are wrong. You don't see the way he looks at you when you aren't paying attention."

Lily threw her hands up in frustration just as the food arrived. "Excellent, now can we please stop talking about this. How was the drive for you guys?"

Ned and Alexi both shared another look at Lily's reactions but acquiesced. The trio ate their food with Ned and Alexi doing most of the talking and with no one mentioning Dr. Crane. When they were finished Ned and Alexi decided to stay and drink a bit more but Lily had a panel she wanted to go to at eight in the morning and gladly left. Her trip back to the hotel was short and uneventful but walking past the hotel's bar she heard someone call out to her. "Lily! Right? Lily!"

She looked over to see Dr. Pigeon waving and gesturing her over from a table by the bar. Reluctantly, Lily went over to see what he wanted. As she did so she realized that Dr. Pigeon was not alone at the table but Dr. Crane was with him. Dr. Crane was bent over a glass of whiskey on the rocks, an empty one off to the side, his brow a bit furrowed as he stared at the swirls on the wooden table, and he was obviously drunk.

"Dr. Pigeon, Dr. Crane, good evening." Lily greeted looking a bit worriedly at Dr. Crane. She distinctly remembered him telling her that he did not like to drink and when he did never to the point of major inebriation, just enough to relax.

"Evening," Dr. Pigeon greeted, "how are you enjoying the conference?"

"Oh, it's been great. Dr. Crane's and mine presentation went very well."

Lily watched as Dr. Crane blinked slowly before looking up at her. "Lily, how was your dinner with...those two?" He struggled for a second trying to think of Alexi and Ned's names but eventually could not.

"It was alright Dr. Crane. Ned and Alexi decided to stay for a few drinks but there's that panel that we wanted to go to tomorrow in the morning so I decided not to stay."

"Ah, pish posh," Dr. Pigeon said with a smile, "join us Lily. I got the bartender to give Jonathan the top shelf high proof bourbon instead of that weak stuff he usually has. But then again, that's why I called you over, actually. Could you help get Jonathan back to your room? I suppose I overestimated his tolerance but I'm going to stay a while more."

Lily's eyes widened in shock before she forced herself to smile. "Of course." Going around the table she put a hand on Dr. Crane's shoulder. "Come on Dr. Crane, let's head up to the room. We have panels to go to tomorrow."

"Right, right," Dr. Crane said his speech a bit slurred as he stood. His usual tree like posture and strength were now gone as his knees wobbled and his body swayed slightly. Lily could not comfortably reach his shoulder anymore so she slid her hand down to his upper back to aide her in guiding him along.

"Night Jonathan," Dr. Pigeon said with a wave, "I apologize for pushing you."

Dr. Crane sent the scowl that he usually reserved for failing students at Dr. Pigeon. "Goodnight, Bill," he replied in a cold yet still slurred tone.

"Goodnight, Dr. Pigeon." Carefully, Lily began directing Dr. Crane towards the elevators. Once they were inside Dr. Crane grew steadier and stood up straighter.

"You can remove your hand, Lily. I am fine." He told her with the barest hint of drunkenness in his tone.

She jerked her hand quickly away and looked up at him in surprise. "You're…?"

"Not drunk, yes. Buzzed, but not nearly to the extent that I was acting before. I knew Bill had gotten me something stronger than I usually drink when I am with him in an attempt to see my behavior while highly intoxicated. Therefore, I allowed him to believe that I was. He will not be trying again in the future as I am to quote "not as fun drunk" as he expected."

"I cannot believe that he tried to get you drunk like that," Lily said shaking her head as the elevator doors opened on their floor. If Dr. Pigeon tried to get Dr. Crane drunk like that Lily shuddered to imagine what happened to females he took out drinking.

"It is something that he has been attempting to do since I was a student. As I knew you would be coming by within a reasonable amount of time, I decided to humor him in a way. As Dr. Pigeon hoped that being drunk would, to quote "bring me out of my shell" and my act was quite the opposite, it is highly unlikely that he will be urging me to heavily drink in his presence again." The arrived at the hotel door and Dr. Crane took out his wallet to get the keycard. Lily noticed that he stared at the cards for a bit too long and had a tad of difficulty unlocking the door indicating that he was not as sober as he liked to believe.

"Well, I must commend you on your acting abilities Dr. Crane," Lily said closing the door behind them and dead bolting out of habit. "I do have to wonder now, what are you like when you are heavily intoxicated?"

Dr. Crane removed his suit coat, vest, and tie and sat down in the chair, placing his feet up on the ottoman. It was the most comfortable Lily had ever seen him, another hint to his intoxicated state. Taking off his glasses he rubbed the bridge of his nose before answering. "I have no idea. I have never drunk to highly intoxicated levels - and as I have told you I barely drink, let alone around others. However, seeing how alcohol lower inhibitions I believe I would be honest."

"Honest?" Lily questioned sitting down on the edge of the bed and taking off her heeled shoes carefully, her soles were aching after the long day. "In other words, you believe that you would say everything that is on your mind. No holding back to uphold social norms?"

"Precisely. I am determined to never know, of course."

"Of course, though I must say that I do not see how that is any different from how you are now. You always are perfectly honest with me."

"That is because I trust you to understand."

Lily felt a deep blush cross her cheeks. "Thank you, Dr. Crane, that-that actually means a lot to hear."

"Naturally, after all, we share a great deal in common, not in our research but other interests as well." With a slight groan, Dr. Crane leaned forward and removed his shoes. Returning to his resting position he sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose again.

The similarity of his words to her own earlier that night made Lily's heart stop for a second. Quickly though she shook off the feeling, he didn't mean anything by it other than the truth: they did have a lot in common. It didn't mean that he was attracted to her, no matter what Alexi said. "Yes, I believe so as well...Dr. Crane, we can talk about this later but I am going to tell you now. Ned and Alexi mentioned tonight at dinner that there are rumors going around the department that we are engaged in a relationship apart from mentor and student."

"A relationship? As in of a sexual nature?" He asked in clarification.

"Yes, Alexi cited how we close and lock your office door at times, our time spent in the lab together, you driving me home those few times, our sharing a room for the conference, and our accidental similarity in colors today."

Dr. Crane nodded and ran his hand through his hair as he often did when he was contemplating something. "I see...I suppose then we have two choices. Either continue as we have been allowing the rumors to persist while not feeding them and telling the truth when pressed or change our behavior to avoid these misunderstandings and potentially increase the rumors as the change in behavior came after confrontation."

"I believe the rumors would persist either way as, and I quote, "half the department is rooting for it, especially Dr. Pigeon." It appears as if they are determined to connect dots that do not exist, therefore, I believe we should act in the way most convenient for us."

"No change in behavior," he said.

"No change in behavior," Lily confirmed. There was a comfortable silence between them as Dr. Crane relaxed in his "slightly" intoxicated state and Lily took off her blazer and stockings. Getting up from the bed she went over to the window and peeked outside to look at the people passing below.

"I must say," she said quietly still looking out the window. "It is strange how particular the department is concerning you."

"How do you mean?"

"The students, they ask about you - how much coffee does he actually drink, does he get annoyed when you make noise while in his office working, does he gain sadistic pleasure from watching those mice scream? Then there is Dr. Pigeon, I know he was your mentor but in the way he attempted to get you drunk, how he has made lewd suggestions to you about me, and this supposed "rooting on" of us being engaged in an extra-academic relationship. It is very odd to me. Certainly, for the students, I know that as much as they...find your need for excellence distasteful, they also believe that you are untouchable, unflappable, in a way."

In the reflection of the glass, she saw Dr. Crane run his hand through his hair again. He pulled at his hair for a moment before letting go, leaving several strands puffed up from the action. "It is simple, Bill needs to justify his own behavior - which he knows is unethical - by convincing himself that everyone else is engaged in the same behavior; not to mention he believes I am far too serious. As for the students, they are simply jealous of what I have achieved and what better way for them to know I am just as flawed if not more so than them than having a carnal relationship with my beautiful assistant."

Lily felt her cheeks flare red again. Forcing the red down she looked back at Dr. Crane a smirk on her face. "You think I'm beautiful? Careful, Dr. Crane words like that will only feed the rumors."

"I-I did not mean...please do not interpret that as something untoward. I was...simply stating an objective fact not a subjective opinion." Dr. Crane's face was a deep red by the time he finished speaking.

Her smirk transformed into a smile. "I know, I was only teasing."

Leaving her position by the window she went over to the coffee machine and grabbed a mug. Filling it with tap water she also retrieved two Advil from her travel bag. She gave Dr. Crane the medication and the water with a smile. "I know you are not that intoxicated, but I think you will still want to take these and drink some water tonight to prevent lingering effects in the morning."

With a nod, Dr. Crane took both pills without complaint. "Perhaps, I should just keep you on as my assistant. Are you sure you want a Ph.D.," he asked with a teasing tone. "I could hire you on as my full-time assistant: research, teaching, and personal."

"Dr. Crane," Lily replied in an overly offended tone, "are you saying that I should abandon my dreams to please you?"

He gave a small smirk. "Did you not tell me last month that the degree is only so you could do research properly? If you were my assistant I would let you do research without your degree."

"Hush," Lily said sticking out her tongue. "What I had said was "if I could do recognized research without bothering with the politics of getting a Ph.D. I would." I was talking about the department politics and all this networking. Of course, I actually want to complete my Ph.D. I hate to prove my mom right and quit halfway through because I met the right man."

Dr. Crane smiled and rested his head against the back of the chair, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "The right man would want you to have that Ph.D. and help you achieve it."


	7. Tickets and Tours

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I said slow to update I didn't think it would be this long. Haha. Shorter than the other chapters but the next one will be longer and out sooner. Enjoy!

“Coffee delivery,” Lily said cheerfully as she entered Dr. Crane’s office with a fresh cup of Dr. Crane’s favorite dark roast from the cafe across the street. The usual distracted greeting of Dr. Crane didn’t reach her ears and Lily looked around in curiosity. She had just left him here ten minutes ago when she went to get their coffees, he had been knee deep in work and they were planning on spending several hours going over data for their next paper. The reams of notes were still scattered about the room but Dr. Crane was nowhere to be found.

“Must of run to the bathroom,” Lily muttered as she cleared a space on his desk for the coffee. As she went back to her own desk with her coffee she heard Dr. Crane’s voice echo down the hall.

“I need to get back to the office, she’ll be coming back with coffee…”

“Very well, get back to your  _ lovely _ assistant for the evening.”

There was an audible sigh. “Bill, as I have told you time and time again it is not like that.”

“What, are you saying she isn’t lovely? You aren’t as good a psychologist as you think then Jonathan if you are that unobservant.”

“I can admit that she is physically attractive and highly intelligent, as you forced me to confess before, but that does not mean we are engaged in any relationship outside that of mentor and mentee. I know of those rumors you, the other staff, and the graduate students have been passing around amongst yourselves but I am informing you that they are completely false.”

In the silence that followed Lily could almost hear Dr. Pigeon’s smug smile. “Alright, get back to work then. Just know that she confessed to finding you attractive too.”

In the silence that followed Lily could feel the daggers in Dr. Crane’s eyes. There was a slam of a door and Lily could hear Dr. Crane’s quick strides returning to the corner office. She sat down quickly at her desk and attempted to look busy. “Ah, excellent you are back,” Dr. Crane said stepping into the office and shutting the door. “Bill wanted to speak with me briefly about the summer semester.”

“Yep, coffee’s still hot. Got back only a minute ago.”

“Excellent, now let us get to work.”

“Of course,” Lily smiled but the smile did not quite reach her eyes. She hated what Dr. Pigeon and the others were saying about her and Dr. Crane. A few minutes passed in silence and Lily was able to start working on the paper once more. The conversation she had overheard lingered in the back of her mind, however.

“There is something wrong.” Dr. Crane suddenly stated.

Looking over at him, Lily raised an eyebrow. “Are the data not lining up?”

“No, the data are fine. There is something wrong with you...your mind is not focused.”

“Oh, no,” Lily denied, too quickly to be believable. “The coffee just hasn’t kicked in yet.”

“I see...how much of my conversation with Dr. Pigeon did you overhear?”

A deep blush appeared on Lily’s face at being caught in her lie. “I...I believe from when you opened the door to leave.”

Dr. Crane breathed in and closed his eyes. “Is that so? And what part of the conversation are you finding troublesome.”

“The continued implied sexualization of myself by a superior and someone who holds my academic future in his hands.”

“My comment was not meant--” Dr. Crane hurriedly began in his defense.

“Not you, Dr. Crane, Dr. Pigeon. His continued interest in us having a more than professional relationship is disturbing to me on several levels. Your comment was fine. I barely took note.”

“Yes, his insistence on this matter is quite disconcerting. I will say, I do not believe that it truly has anything to do with you but with me. Bill has always been interested in my personal affairs since I was a student, I believe he finds my  _ disinterest _ in certain socially expected behaviors to be strange. Therefore, wishes to force to participate in and/or test me in those fields - such as the drinking at the conference last month.”

“That is so messed up,” Lily sighed rubbing her temples.

“Indeed, yet I have learned to manage and sometimes benefit from this. For example…” Dr. Crane withdrew two small papers from his suit coat pocket. “How would you like to see the Gotham Orchestra’s final set of the season?”

Lily’s eyes went wide as she stared at the tickets. “What?”

“Bill was given these tickets by a donor to the University for him and his wife. However, Bill is attending a conference during the performance date so he gave them to me. It is what he had called me into his office for. He gave them to me for myself and a “lady friend”, he implied you and, while I find it distasteful to follow along his expectations, as I have no such partner would you like to attend with me?”

“I--yes, thank you that would be great...I mean you didn’t buy them so it’s ethical right?”

“Precisely, Bill has given me similar tickets in the past but I did not know anyone that would also enjoy them until now. As I am not buying these tickets for you and I, this is simply me giving you a spare ticket I was given.” Dr. Crane removed one ticket from his hand and passed it to her.

Lily grinned excitedly. “Why thank you, I will graciously accept this spare free ticket you have.”

~  ~  ~

“Thank you again,” Dr. Crane told Lily as they walked up the front stoop to his small house both carrying a heavy box of books.

“No problem. I needed the break from studying for finals,” Lily replied the strain of lifting in her tone. Dr. Crane set the box between the doorframe and his hip as he unlocked the door to let them in. Once he entered he held the door open with his foot for Lily who quickly passed him.

“To your right, set it anywhere,” Dr. Crane instructed as he let the door shut behind him. Lily stepped into the living room and set the box down by the couch. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a great many bookshelves but it was not until they were down bringing in the other 4 boxes of book that Lily realized just how many books Dr. Crane had in his possession. Each wall in the living room had a bookshelf placed against it, looking across the hall she saw the same in the dining room and she could only imagine that every room in the small house was like this. Though not every shelf was full to the brim with books Lily had to guess there were at least over a thousand in she could see.

“Wow, Dr. Crane you were not kidding when you said you had a lot of books.” 

Dr. Crane gave a little shrug. “They are the one thing I enjoy spending money on. Nothing finer than engrossing oneself in a novel or garnering new knowledge from a non-fiction text.”

“Hear, hear,” Lily said as she perused the shelves. They were organized by topic from what she could tell and alphabetized by author and title, very much like a library. From what she could see there was not a single repeated title. “And you have read all of them?”

“Nearly, there are a few textbooks that were superfluous in content so I did not end up reading them in their entirety. Would you like something to drink? I am going to make myself a cup of coffee before we start unpacking.”

Looking to Dr. Crane Lily smiled, “yes, thank you. Coffee for me too please.”

With a nod Dr. Crane exited to the kitchen and Lily went back to looking over his numerous volumes. After a few minutes Dr. Crane returned with two cups of coffee, Lily’s made with her preferred two sugars and three creamers. Taking the cup with gratitude Lily took a short sip before kneeling on the floor next to the boxes. Dr. Crane sat on the couch and they got to work taking out the books that Dr. Crane had bought in bulk from an estate sale - they were all lovely volumes consisting mostly of first editions and collector’s editions, and all meticulously maintained. 

An hour passed as they worked separating the books into piles of genre and topic. Once that task was completed they began to put the books away on the shelves. Lily stayed in the living room while Dr. Crane put away the books in the other rooms. About midway through Lily ran into a problem putting the books away. Compared to Dr. Crane Lily was very short. Dr. Crane may have been able to reach the top shelves without aide but Lily most certainly could not.

She was on the tips of her toes stretching to put a book on the second to top shelf when there was a sudden pressure on her upper back and the book was lifted from her hand. Lily nearly dropped the other books she was holding in shock as Dr. Crane slipped the book onto the shelf. “You could have asked me for a step stool,” he chided her softly. 

Lily could feel his voice rumble in his chest they were that close. She could feel the heat radiating off his body, the searing heat of his hand between her lower ribs. “I thought I could reach,” she told him desperately hoping that her voice sounded normal.

“Hand me the next one.” He told her removing the hand from her back but not moving away from her. Lily did as he said and he put that one away as well. They were all for the top or second to top shelf and Dr. Crane stayed close to her the whole time as he put each book away.

Lily’s body felt hot, she knew her face was dark red. Her heart was beating in her throat and it took all her might to keep her breathing steady. After Dr. Crane put away the last book she could have sworn she felt his hand brush over her hair and back once more. There was a long pause before Dr. Crane stepped back. “I apologize, Lily, I did not realize how close I was. I hope I did not make you uncomfortable.”

“No, no,” Lily said the stress showing a hint in her voice. “It’s fine. Thanks for the help.”

“Thank you again for helping me,” Dr. Crane replied his voice now several steps away from her. “Would you like some more coffee?”

Lily turned around with a smile, her face still red, and saw that Dr. Crane’s cheeks were tinged pink as well. “No problem and yes please, coffee would be nice.”

“Excellent, I will make some more.” With that, Dr. Crane hurried from the room. 

Alone Lily breathed out slowly and calmed herself. “It was an accident,” she said under her breath. “He didn’t realize what he was doing.”

Lily could still feel the spot where Dr. Crane had touched her throbbing with sensation. She needed to calm herself somehow. “Dr. Crane,” she called out. “May I use your restroom?”

“Oh, yes, of course,” he replied sounding a bit flustered still himself. “Up the stairs first door on the left.”

As calmly as she could Lily went upstairs and entered the bathroom. She shut the door with a little more force than necessary before letting out a shaky sigh. “What is wrong with me? He’s my mentor!”

Pushing away from the door, Lily leaned over the counter staring at herself in the mirror. Her cheeks were a deep pink and she could feel the heat radiating off of them. Running the tap she splashed some cold water her on her face, it felt good, it was calming but she could still feel the embarrassingly warm sensation on her back from Dr. Crane’s touch. “Jesus Christ, Lily, get ahold of yourself. It was one stupid touch stray from a man you cannot ethically do anything with. How are you supposed to survive a whole evening with him at the concert next week if you are getting all flustered now.”

Breathing in deeply she reached for the hand towel and dried her face. “You’re adults, you are both adults. This is fine. Just don’t bring it up. It won’t happen again.”

With a nod of confirmation, Lily relieved herself before heading downstairs to rejoin Dr. Crane. He wasn’t in the living room however, so she poked her head into the kitchen. “Need help,” she asked entering. Dr. Crane was on his hands and knees cleaning coffee off the floor.

“The coffee is done but I set the mug to close to the edge, caught the mug but not the coffee.” Dr. Crane gave a slightly awkward laugh as he made a few more passes with the paper towels drying the last of the coffee. Standing he tossed the wad into the trash can and grabbed a mug of coffee from the counter. “Here you are, conveniently it was mine that spilled.”

“Thank you,” Lily said with a smile taking the coffee. Dr. Crane was red around the ears and still appeared to be a bit flustered though if it was from the touch or the accident she could not tell. “Do you need any help cleaning up?”

“No, no, I am fine. Enjoy your coffee.”

Knowing Dr. Crane would not want her to help when he said not to, Lily smiled and took a sip of a hot coffee. As always it was made just the way she liked it. Dr. Crane knew her preferences well, just as she did his.

“Obligatory I know, but you do have a lovely home, Dr. Crane.”

“Is it all of the books making you say that?”

“Perhaps.” They both chuckled and Dr. Crane began making some more coffee for himself. “My compliment still stands. I will admit I did not take you for a homebuyer. I pictured you in a three bedroom apartment with two of those bedrooms being converted to libraries.”

“Yes, well I am still renting this place. Some rich couple owns several houses around this neighborhood and rents them out as another source of income. The rent is low enough for my income. I might buy a house someday, however, if I find it necessary...though it will be loathsome to move these books. I suppose I should give you a proper tour of the house.”

“Oh, if you want. I never really saw the point in that though.”

Dr. Crane shrugged and with his coffee in hand gestured around the room. “This is obviously the kitchen. The french doors there lead to the backyard, if you can call that tiny patch of land a yard.”

“Nice tree,” Lily commented. Looking up at the large oak tree that sat in the middle of the yard, a mere 20 by 20 feet, its branches shading most of the area cause the grass to brown.

“You say that but the roots keep trying to break into the foundation. Luckily, I do not need to pay for those repairs. One of the benefits of renting.” Dr. Crane moved out of the kitchen leading Lily down the short hallway. “Here we have the door to the basement. Nothing really down there worthy of note unless you have a keen interest in concrete and water boilers. Of course, you have seen the sitting room, the fireplace is gas and warms the whole room in the winter.”

“I would have killed for that this winter. My parents’ have one and I missed it quite a bit with my drafty apartment. At least most of my time was spent at the college.”

“If you have major issues with your heating this winter, or for a matter of fact the air conditioning this summer let me know. The guest bedroom is open for your use in those cases.”

“Oh!” Lily gave Dr. Crane a look of surprise. “Thank you very much, I shall keep that in mind.”

“Actually, I will be gone the month of July for personal business. Could I bother you to check in on the house while I am away?”

“Naturally, that is no problem! All I have planned for the summer is working on those couple of papers from our grant.”

“Excellent. As I mentioned the guest bedroom is up the stairs next to the restroom, across from the master bedroom. Across the hall here, we have the dining room or in my case additional library with a table. And that is the house, nothing special.”

Lily applauded with a grin. “An excellent tour, Dr. Crane. Thank you.”

A smirk played along Dr. Crane’s lips. “Certainly. Now, let us finish putting away these books and then we can go out to lunch as a payment. There is a good bistro not too far from here.”


End file.
